*That's supposed to be an allusion to a joke in an earlier post, as well as bearing some similarity to the famous "Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my!" line in the Wizard of Oz.
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I didn't always have pacifist leanings, but I developed them over the years, largely based on my experiences and thinking them through, and then studying some about pacifism.
Actually, I didn't really have strong political ideas either, but they developed along with my pacifist beliefs. (I should add here, that I won't say I'm the best at living out these beliefs, but a lot of people think pacifists are just doormats, which is not an accurate depiction of this way of thinking and living. But it can be a challenge finding ways to not be a doormat while also living according to pacifist ideas - that is, avoiding being a hypocrite.)
When I worked with Russian emigrants in the States, I did so only as either a short-term worker or on the side while I was being a student and working part-time to also support myself. The head of the work was also in the military reserves, although I forget now which branch of the military. He did research for them using his Russian language knowledge and would do at least part of that research at a university. We were supposed to keep it a secret that he was in the reserves, so some other explanation would be given for his periodic absence to fulfill those responsibilities. Not long after I left there, he and his family moved to the Washington, D.C. area so he could take a job with the Pentagon. At that time I didn't really have any opinion about his work.
Another thing I'll just say in passing here is that I was told by the full-time workers that there were KGB among the emigrants and they and some of the other Russians knew who they were. I never pursued that to find out for myself though. But I have a hunch that it was while I was working there that might have first put me on the radar for the USSR, as far as being the daughter of someone working in Star Wars is concerned.
A couple years later, from 1987 to 1989 I worked in Vienna, which I think I already mentioned to you. That work in Vienna involved over a dozen missions cooperating together; different missions would send workers to participate in this work.
When I was in Vienna there was a 2-person human resources office at the joint effort mission. Both of the men in that department were also U.S. military chaplains. I don't know of anyone else in the joint mission who had such connections. They were able to buy things at the military commissary, for example. It was probably also them who were able to reserve Hitler's Crow's nest in Germany for our annual retreat the last year I was there. Here's quote about the history of Hitler's Crow's Nest from LetsGo-Europe.com
"The allied bombing and battles of World War II left the building intact and today the Eagle's Nest remains in its original state. In the years after the war, the Eagle's Nest and the surrounding area of Berchtesgaden remained a part of US Armed Forces property in southeastern Germany. The US military set up a recreation center where servicemembers could hike in the summer and ski in the winter. The US military returned the area to Germany in the 1990s."
Also, one of the missions working with us was Slavic Gospel Association, the mission I wrote the Freedom of Information Act request about. So you know there was a lot of room here for political things, and I'll tell you later about being told that sometimes missions don't let people in who have relatives in the military. So my contention is that I was so qualified and had such good connections (I had really prepared a lot for that work in Eastern Europe) that it would be hard for them to reject me upfront, but they could try to push me out.
Also, as a young adult I didn't really have strong political views - I mean views about left or right, Democrat or Republican. My parents were both conservative and my dad was a precinct committeeman for the Republicans for a while. I think Mom's family was conservative too, but Dad's side of the family was more liberal politically speaking.
When I went to orientation with the mission that sent me over to Vienna, there was some political opinion presented amongst the training and literature we were given. Part of our training in this week-long orientation was an ongoing course on European Studies. Following the usual expanded outline format of information about the USSR there is this 2-page sort of ode to the wealth of the West. Huh?
I mean, I'm not a Communist, primarily because I believe that it is based on the false premise that man is (or can become, given the right social environment) primarily good and will forsake personal ownership for the ultimate good of everyone. I believe this understanding of the fundamental nature of man is wrong.
Besides that, I understand that there were/are a lot of bad things in Communist countries. But I also believe that there are bad things in many other countries, such as dictatorships, and even here in the US. I don't believe the U.S. is necessarily the best example to follow, either, although I don't believe it's the worst necessarily either. This could evolve into a very complex discussion, but I just want you to understand some of my views on this. I did mention in an earlier post that I'm an "Equal Opportunity Critiquer" and this is an example of what I mean by that.
As far as economics is concerned, which is what this text addresses, there were also some things in the USSR, such as virtually no homelessness, universal health care and free education that we don't have. This paper, reading it now makes me almost wonder if there was some subconscious prosperity gospel thinking going on to elevate material wealth so much. I mean, we're talking about a Christian mission here, and they're feeding this to their potential recruits, so I assume they wanted us to think like this too, like the ideas in this text. It's almost propaganda-like.
Here is a copy of the sheet from the orientation binder, which I still have in its completeness.
Based on this text, we should all move to Monaco (everyone's rich there, aren't they?). Ooops! I forgot, I can't afford to move there right at the moment. I must have just been born in the wrong country.
~ Meg
