Plain Truth 1976 (Prelim No 11) Dec_w

7/28/2019 Plain Truth 1976 (Prelim No 11) Dec_w

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[ J J [ f f i ~ ~ UWrnurna m a g o zi n e o f under st an d in g

Vol. XLI , No . 11

ARTICLESAfter Mao - New Era fo r Chi naThe Soviet Jews - Mak ing It in Ame ricaStra tegies fo r Coping With InflationThe First Christmas in RomeReflections on PeaceAlcoholism : the Road to Recovery" But It Was an Acciden t! "Aerosols Are Des troying Our Atmosphere

FEATURESPersonal from Herbert W. ArmstrongWorldwatchTV-Radio LogIn BriefGarner Ted Arm strong Speaks Out'

December 1976

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The PLAIN TRUTH - SUPPORTED BYYOUR CONTRIBUTIONSThe Plain Trum has no subscr ipt ion or news stanpric e , It is supported through contr ibutions from oureaders and those who chosen, Voluntarily. tobecome co-workers with us in this worldwide workThe Plain Truth i s non pro fit , accepts no ccmmeectaadvert ising, and has nothing to sell. Contributions aregra te ful ly welcomed and are tax-oecucnbre in the U,SThose who can are encouraged to add thei r fin an c iasupport in the spiri t 01helping to make The Plain Truthavailable , wit hout pri ce, to oth ers . Con tr ibu tionshould be sent 10 The Plain Trurh, PasadenaCA 91123 or to one a! our cmces nearest you (seaddresses below).

Edltor ln Chiel: HERBERTW ARMSTRONGEditor : GARNERTEDARMSTRONGManag ing Edito r: Arlhur A. FerdigAssistant to the Editor : Robert L. KUhnNew s Edi tor : Gene H, HogbergFeat uresEditor. Dexter H. FaulknerArt Director : Allen MeragerAssocia te Edito rs: Robert Gmskey, Brian KnowlesPub lishin g Coordinator: Roger G tccrcseCopy Edll or l : Jim E. Lea,Peter MooreSeni o r Editors: Raymond F. McN3Ir. Roderic k CMeredithSenior Wr iters: Jell Calkins, Donald D. Schroeder, K6IlhStumpCo ntrIbutors : Don Abrah am, Ron Berceck. Peter But lerD. Paul Graunke. Ron Horswell, Ray Kosanke. AdHMuhtadr, Gordon MUr , David Price. Carole gme r. George Rrter, John R.Schroe der , Wolfgang ThomsenNew s Re se ar ch Staff : Donna jean Clausen, WerneJebens, Marc StahlGra phics: ASSOCate Art Dlfector ; Greg S. Smith; StaArtists: Randall Cole , Garry Haggerty, Ron Lepeska. Garmc na-oson.Gene Tikasingh, Mike Woodruff; eroouctoand Quali ty c omroi: Monte Wolverton; Color OualdControl: Jim RasmussenPhotography : Photo Services Director , Warren WatsonChar les Buschmann, Ken Evans, Joyc e Hedlund, AlfredHen,ngPhoto Flie s: Manager Alan Leiter; Linda LulkosklOtllces: Auckland. New Zealand Robert Morton; BonnWest Germany Frank Schnee; 5t Albans, EnglandFrank Brown; Burleigh Heads, Australia: Dennis LukerJonannesburg, South A/fica: Robert Fahey; Manila PhiIppines ' Colin Adair; Utrecht. The Netherlands' RoMcCarthy; Vancouver ,B.G" Canada' Dean WilsonFounder . President and Publisher:Herbert W. ArmSlrongExecutlve Vice-President and Co Publisher:GarnerTedArmstrongAssoc ia te Publi shers: Stanley R,Rader, Robert L KuhnBusine ls Manager : Raymond L WrightClrcula llon Manager: E. J Martin

ABOUT OUR COVERThe dove of peace alights on the helmetof war. Are there solutions for the conflicts and wars that continually plaguemankind? Read the answer in the artic le"Reflections on Peace,"Watson - Plain Truth

The Plam Truth IS published monthly (except combineAprtl-May issue) by Ambassador College, Pasadena, carifornia 91123 . Copyrigh11976 Ambassador College. Arigh ts reserved. Second Class Postage paid at PasadenaCA, and at additional mailing cnces.PRINTED IN U.S,A.United States. P. 0 , Box 111, Pasadena, Calitornia9112 3Canada, P.O . Box 44, Station A, Vancouver, B.CV6C 2M2.Mexico ' tnstnuccn Ambassador, Apartado Postal 5595Mexico 5, D,F.Colombia Apartado Aerec 11430, Bogota 1. D E.United Kingdom. Europe, India, Alr lca ' P. D. Box Il lSt. Albans, Herts , AL2 3TREngiandSouth Africa , Mauflilus and MalaW. P. 0 . t0 60Johannesburg, Republic 01SouthArnca 2000Rnodesla: P.O. UA 30. UnIOnAva., SalisburyAustralia and Southeasl Asia, G.P.O Box 345, SydneNSW 2001, AustraliaNew Zealand and Pacillc Isles P. 0 , Box 2709, Auckland 1, New ZealandThe Philippmes.P. 0 , 2603, Manila2801West Indies. P, 0 . Box 6003, San Juan, Puerto Rico00936BE TONOTIFYus IMMEOATE Y0any change in youaddress Please mclude your old mallmg label and younew address, IMPORTANT The publisher assumes no responsibillty lor re tu rn o f ursouorec an work, cretegraphs , or manuscripts.


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Personal from...

THE WESTERN WORLD'SGROWING TRAGEDY-GROWING OLD BEFORE OUR TIME

MLLIONS have heen believinga myth that has brought onone of modern civilization'sgreatest tragedies.I saw a pitiful example of this oneday in Miami . A few of my travelingteam decided to take a drive over oniami Beach . \Ve crossed over nearthe southern end . then drove north

10 and through the luxury hotelarea . BUI dr iving up from the southern end we passed first through adistrict of economy-class retirementhotels,As we d rove slowly by. our atten tion was a rrested by the sight ofmany retired "elderly" - probablybetween the ages of 60 and 70 sitting idly on front verandas passing away the time. II was the despondent. hopeless. beat en look ontheir faces thai caught our a ttentionand filled us with dismay. Plainly.they had nothing 10 look forward 10 .Th ere was j ust a tired , uninterested,hopeless stare on their faces. Th eywerejust eking out an existence until finally death would delive r themfrom hopeless monotony.I had to wonder : Wtrv shouldpeop le believe in a myth that cheatsmillion s out of one of the happiesttimes of life? wu v should the MIL LIONS believe a myth that make sthem old before their time and robsthem of usefulness. vigor. sparklinginterest in life. and real accomplishment?I remember whe n I was a boy stillgrowing up. My two grandfathe rswere dead . bU I my grandmothers.one in her lat e 50s. the othe r in herea rly 60s. were still living. Not thatmy ancestors died young. I remember. between ages 3 and 5. a grea tgra ndfa ther in his 90s and a grea luncle. a lso in his 90s. My motherlived to age 95 11, . and she had brothers and sisters who lived into theirlat e 80s and 90s.But my grandmothc rs. after abou tage 50 or 55. had changed their a ttire to dress like "o ld folks." II hasseemed to me that it must have become custom for people to thinkthey are "g rowing old." I have noticed that many young men . reach ing somewhere around 25. begi n tocultiva te a changed personali ty . puton a facia l exp ression . and adopt amanner of speech of one ....more MA TURE." As they reach the later 40sThe PLAIN TRUTH December 1976

and turn 50. they see m to feel theymu st ta lk. look. and act like theysuppose the "middle-aged" ough t toap pea r. And by or befor e 60. theyseem to feel they have now become"o ld." They appear to feel their usefulness is now over, and they must"re tire."Th is feeling is so un iversal thatmany corporations have retirementprograms timed to age 60 or 65.Someh ow. I never could quite understand tha t type of outlook onlife. I have never reac hed "midd leage : ' at least not consciously - notin my mind and man ner of thinkingand ac ting. After age 83. I have enjoyed joking about being "37. goingon 36." I have simply been TOOBUSY to think of "g rowing old" orever "retiring:'One of our employees came to mea t age 55. He wanted to retire. True.he had been on our payro ll for some25 or 30 years. He had been divorced and had married a widowwho had a camper. She had a smallincome."We can travel very chea ply." hesaid. "and I want to get to traveland see some of the United Sta tesbefore I have to meet my Maker."he said . He had already "grownold" - in his mind . Well. "as he

thinketh in his heart . so is he," saidSolomon .There is a new book j ust off thepress, Love in the Later Years. authored by Dr. James A. Peterson

and Dr. Barbara Payne. gerontologists. The book reports a wea lth ofresea rch on one of the Westernworld's most senseless growing traged ies and quotes some astonishingsta tistics, unreal ized. I th ink. bymost.For example. it is stated thatsome 70 yea rs ago. the ave rage lifespa n was only 47 years. Few marriages lasled until a ll the child renhad grown 10 maturi ty and lefthome. Most marriages la sted onlyunt il middle age and usually end edby the death of one. Now. for thefirst time . a t least in mode rn histo ry.man y marri ages are lastin g intowhat has been called "old age" - 60and past.Such facts actually seem rathe rshocking to me when I think of howmy marriage lasted 50 yea rs. lacking3 11, months to the dav, and I stillthought of the "wife of my youth"as "young ," though she died a t age75 11, . To me she was still only 25.(We were both 25 when we weremarried .) And I have serio usly(Continued on page 42)


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AFTER MAONEW ERA

FOR CHINAby Keith W. Stump

As expected, the death of Mao Tse-tung threemonths ago triggered a scramble for power in thetop echelons of the Chinese governmen t.A new Chairman has now emerged. What will thepost-Mao era hold fo r China and forthe world at large?

Rivalry between the two factiodates back to the tumultuous Cutur al Revolution of 1966-69. whiwas spea rheaded by the radical san a ttempt to revive revolutionaardor in China and destroy the breaucratic par ty stru cture which hdeveloped. T he radicals are charaterized as isolat ionist and xenophbic. wa ry of bot h Wash ington aMoscow. preaching se lf-reliance aadvoca ting period ic nat ionwide pugings for ideo logica l pu rity.The moderat es or pragmat ists.the other hand. emphasize ordeeconomic an d techno logica l d evopm ent and the expansion of foeign trad e. They shun disrup tiideologica l campa igns. And it wthe moderate fac tion, led by th e laCho u En-lai. which opened the doto im proved rel ations wi th tUni ted Sta tes in 1971.AexactlY3 p.m. Peking time onSeptember 18. one quarter ofman kind stopped its work

and stood in silence. head s bowed .for th ree long minutes . In an unpr eceden ted disp lay of mass grief atthe conclusion of an official eight day period of mourning. 850 milli onChinese qu ietly paid their last respects to the ir de parted Chairman.Mao Tse-tung.Th e "G reat Helm sman " - theon ly leader the Chinese had knownsinc e th e People's Republic was proclaimed 27 yea rs ago - was gone.With out a doubt. he had made agrea ter impact on the ir nation thanany othe r leader in centuries.As a permanent symbol of theChinese revolution . his body is to beenshrined in a crystal sarcophag usin Peking for the inspira tion of futu re genera tions. in the ma nner oftwo othe r communist he roes. Leninand Ho Chi Minh .The a nno unceme n t of Mao'sdea th on Sep tembe r 9 a t the age of82 triggered a flood of condolencesand tributes from a round the world.Even leaders in the United Sta tesand Western Europe - well awaretha t Mao was respon sible for theslaughter of multiple million s ofChinese as he bru tall y extended hiscontrol ove r the country in th e ea rly1950s - were inexplicably profusein their eulogies of him.Only the "o ther Chinese" on the

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island of Taiwan. it seemed. took adifferen t view. rejoicing at th e de athof " red tyrant Mao. th e grea tes t villai n in C h incs e hi story. " wh othrough his "iniquitous rule" had" plunged the Chinese people intoan abyss of agon y."Veneer 01UnityMao's de ath followed closely thedeaths of two othe r "old guard"leaders - Premie r Chou En-la i andMar shal Chu Teh . chairman of theNational People's Congress. Withmost of China's He lde r statesmen"either dead or in poo r health and nodesignated successo r on the scene toinsu re an orderly transfer of power.China-watchers waited for signs of apowe r struggle between riva l claimants to a uthori ty.But as they stood side by side inmourning by Mao's glass-encas edbier in Peking's G rea t Ha ll of thePeople. China's top lead ers con veyed an impression of sta bility atthe nation 's helm . Some observerssaw this as an indica tion tha t the $0ca lled radica l an d mode rate fac tionsof th e Chinese Commun ist Par tymay ha ve ag reed to avoid open conflict a nd to govern for the timebein g as a coa lition.But few obse rvers doubted that afierce strugg le was a lready underway behind the scenes to determinewho would ultimately step into theshoes of the departed Chairman .

Power PlayThe veneer of pretended uni ty btween the riva l fac tions was sholived . In ea rly October. ske tchyport s filtered out of China thChai rma n Mao's fiery widoChiang C hing. and three o thprominent radical leaders in the ring Politburo had been a rrested aaccused of plotting a coup d'etat .addition to Madame Mao. a formmovie ac tress who is the acknowedged lead er of the radical fac tiothe others sa id to have been a rrestwere Depu ty Pa rt y Chairma n WaHung-wen . Vice -Premie r ChaChua-chiao. and propaganda expYao Wen-yuan.Th e rumors of the ir fall fropower we re soo n confirmed. Ante nsive wa ll -po s te r ca m pa i gspread ing th roughout the counwith lightning speed. openly dnounced the fou r as a "dangeroca nce r" tha t had long plottedtak e ove r the Chinese gove rnme" CRUSH THE HEADS OF THE FODOGS" ran a typical sloga n. EvenShanghai. China 's largest city athe rad icals' former base of opetions. there was little resistancethe campa ign to discredi t theca lled gang of four.Ear ly reports from inside Chiindicated that the radical qu arhad tried unsuccessfully to assasnat e Prem ier Hu a Ku o-feng. Bperhap s the most damaging of

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cha rges ag a inst them was that o f" tamp e ring" with the though ts o fChairman Mao. that is. fabricatinasa y ings wh ich pu rportedly ca rnefrom Mao in the last mont hs o f hislife - sayings designed to assuretheir ri se to po w er a f t e r h i sdeat h .

The plots and intrigues a ttributedto the four ha ve grown increasinglybroad . suggesting that th e moderates are fabricating at least some ofthe cha rges to fu rther discredit therad icals. Th e full sto ry may no t beknown for years - if ever.New StrongmanIn short orde r. the top Chinese leadership was purged o f its ultra leftists.Reports revealed th a t some 50 otherleftist o fficia ls ha d bee n a rres ted inaddition to th e top four.

O n to p - for th e time. at least has emerged Premier and Firs tVice-Chai':-m an Hu a Kuo- feng (pronou nced Hwa Kwo- fun g). un til re cently a relatively unknown official.Concurrent wi th the arrest" of therad icals. posters proclaiming Hua asthe new Party Chairman - the nation's top post - went lip in majorurban centers.With his major rival s be hind bars.it now appears that Hua has succeeded in gaining undisputed contro l ove r the pa rty and the country.He reported ly also has the crucia lsuppo rt o f the military.Hua . thought to be in his mid-Sus.was born in the province of Shansiin northeastern China. As a provincial party official with a reputationas a skill ful ad mi nis ta to r. Hu acau ght Mao's eye a nd was broughtto Peking in 1971. He becam e amember o f th e Po litbu ro in 1973. Inea rly 1975 he was nam ed a vicepremier and ministero f public securitv.

Last Fe bruary. fo llowi ng Prem ierChou En-Iai's death . Hua was unexpected ly a ppointed ac ting premi er.It had been wid ely expec ted thatCho u 's personally designat ed successor. First Vice-Premier TengHsiao-ping. would ste p in to th at o ffice. but opposition from th e radi-ca ls apparently pr o mp ted Mao toinstall Hua as a compromise choice.With Teng's abrup t ouster in apower play two mont hs la te r. Hu awas named permanent premier.The PLAIN TRUTH December 1976

NEW CHAIRMAN. Hua Kuo-Ieng. untilrecently a relatively unknown official.has emerged as the single mostpo werful man in China fol/owing apo wer struggle between rival factions01 the Chinese Communist Party.

Policy QuestionsChina s new leadership will no t on lyplot the course of China's internalpo lit i cal a nd eco nom ic d evel -opment. bu t will also di rect Peking'srelation s with the outside world. Inthi s regard. it is believed likely th atthe ma in lines o f Chinese foreignpolicy will be con tinue d fo r the immediat e future.Possibly the mo st im portant question raised by Mao' s deat h is thefuture relationship betwee n Chinaand the Soviet Union (The PlainTruth. Septem ber 1976). Analystsare cautious in their predictions. butmos t view a sudden po licy switch toa more conciliatory attitude towardMoscow as extreme ly unlikely. It isknown . however. that there arc elements in both factions. includingsome top military men. th at wouldlike to see at lea st a limited rap prochement with the Kremlin. But10 ev en suggest such a drasticchan ge in pol icy so soo n after Mao 'sde a th wou ld cert ai nl y be politicalsuicide.

It was no t surp rising. the re fore.tha t Cha irman Hua - in the bes ttradition of Maoist anti-Sovietism rece ntly denounced the " imperialis tic designs" of the "new czars" inthe Kremlin. If he has any priva te

fee lings about a future th aw in relations with Moscow. he is keepingthem to him self for th e time bei ng.China's relations with the UnitedStates are expected to remain on afairly even kee l in th e mon ths ahead- a necessary counterbalance to theicy relations between Peking andthe Kreml in. "T he ba sic fac torswhich br ought th e United Stat esan d China toget her : ' Secretary ofState Kissinge r observed recently."are still opera t ing and a re likely tocontinue."Peking will continue to seek improved relat ion s with Washington .most expe rts feel. bu t will not com promise on the question of Taiwan.the main obstacle to full normalization of Sino-American relations.Th e Chinese Communists. who arecomm itt ed to the ulti mate " liberation" (co nquest) of T aiwan. wantthe U.S. to sever its di plomatic andmili ta ry ties to that islan d nation .Wash ington has so fa r refused .Chin as increas ingly frien dly re lation s with Japan - designed to kee pTokyo from cult ivating closer relation s with the Kremlin - will alsocertainly continue.Chairman Hua , however. is stillsomething of a mystery. bo th insid ean d outside China . Wha t his pe rsonal vision for China and his longterm pol icies might be remain to beseen.Eve n his d u rab ility is somewhatin question. despite his apparentgrip on power at pr ese n t. A "secon dgeneration " leade r. he lacks the di stinction of party seniority. He maynot even have been born when theChinese Co mmun is t Par ty wa sforme d in 192 1.Moreover . as some analysts sugges t. the rad ica ls may be down . butnot out. Like earthquak es. po litica lconvulsions are sometimes followedby unpred ictabl e aftershocks.It may st ill be prema t ure to makean y definite predictions aboutChina 's futu re . But one thing is ce rta in. Developments in China - thewo rld's most populou s nat ion and anuclear power of growing strength- bear close scrutiny. There can belittle doub t that C hina will play asignificant role in de termining thecourse of world history in the remaining qu ar ter of the twentiethcentury . 0

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WOBLDWATCBAn Overview of Ma jor News Events and TrendNATO'SNERVOUSNORTHOur correspondent in London, DavidPrice, reports on Moscow's mi litarybuildup in the Arctic Ocean area:"The most impor tant stra tegic th reatto the Western alliance at present, "ac cord ing to G eneral Sir JohnSharp of NATO. is the buildup ofSoviet nava l and militar y forces onRu ssia's Ko la penin sul a. j ust overthe border from the northern tip of

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No rway. In this once-barren Arcticregion . the focus of which is the majo r port of Murrnansk, the SovietUnion has based a substantial partof its na va l and stra tegic nuclear ca pability.Besides two army division s and anaval in fantry brigade. the Kola region is home base to approx ima tely200 combat ships, 180 submarines,200 naval patrol aircraft. 300 fighterbom bers, 2 batteries of middleran ge rock et s, a nd ab out 10 under gro und rocket-launching pads. Th enewly developed long-range Rus-

sian "Backfire" bomber is a lbased on the Kola peninsula .All in all, the Kola pen insula cbe described as the most heavily fotified region in the world, accordito NATO Secretary General JosepLuns.Threat to Atlan t ic LinksIt is not j ust the size of the Arcarsenal that is worrying NATO o fcia ls . W ith 70% of th e So viUnion' s strategic subma rine flebased there, a vital part of NATstrategy has had to be completerethought.In the past it was assumed thwith the naval preponderan cesthe United States a nd NATO , Alied forces would control the Atlatic and the North Sea if WesteEurope were attacked . Th is ca nnbe so easily taken for granted todaThe main part of the submarifleet at Mu rmansk is designed fthe hunter-killer role, and toge thwith a flee t of 100 major su rfaraid ers. it could sink Allied shicar rying reinfo rcements and mitary equipment to Europe froNo r th Amer ica . NATO stratecalls for Allied troops to hold thposition s aga inst a Soviet at tackthe crucial period . unti l these refo rceme nts ar rive .W ithout th e viNorth Atlant ic lifeline secured,invading East bloc army co umak e a clean sweep across No rtheand Central Europe.On the other side of the cobeing based in the Arctic region ha major disadvantage for the Sovsurface sh ips. As winter setsin, tfleet is confined to narrow fjocon ta ining the ports of Pechen(formerly Finnish Petsarno) aMurmansk on the short 70-mstretch of coast line th at is ice- frSubmar ines, of course. are notrestricted by the ice, but the lafle et of 400 ships must be home pted till the ice recedes.



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As the Northern Fleet - the Soviet Union's largest - burgeons insize. Russian naval commandersmust look covetously a t Norway'sAt lantic coastline indented withdeep-wa ter, ice-free fjords. No rwaywou ld be hard-pressed to defe ndthe region against Soviet intrusion.With onfy 1.500 border gua rds anda mo torized brigade of 5,000 stationed 500 kilometers away, therewould be little hope of offeringmuch resistance to the 50.000 Sovie ttroo ps stationed over the border.

No rwegian and Soviet se nsi tivities arc also very touchy wheretheir interests contlict hundreds ofmile s awa y on the island o f Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago.Alt hou gh Norwegian sovereigntywas conceded in a 40-nation treatysigned in 1920. all signa tory nation s(incl uding the Soviet Union) havemineral rights on the bleak, treelessisland.Both Norwegians and Russiansare mining for coal, though the Russians have twice as many men andproduce less coal. Th is toget her wit hsuch sw ipes at Norwegian sovereignty as refusing to license theirrad io transmitters, flying their ownhelicopt ers without No rweg ian license pla tes, using Sov iet stamps,and refusing to pay taxes have ledNorwegian o ffic ials to presum e theRussians are trying to wrest contro lof the island or at least estab lishth em selve s a s the major co ndom inium power.Russia n interest in the isla nds isundersta ndab le. Although no military base s are allowed on the isla nds. the archi pelago lies in astrategic position which cou ld monitor intercontinental miss ile s taki ngthe shortes t rou te between the Sovie t Union and the United Statesac ross the Arc tic Ocean. The islandsalso lie at a key surveillance pointfo r the naval traffic in the Arct icOcean and around the port of Mu rmansk.The shift to Warsaw Pact superiority a long the northe rn Europeanfront will no doubt become moreimportant as time go es on. ..'It won 'trem ain the qu iet corner of the Allia nc e." sa id Gen eral S ir JohnSharp recently . He pred icted thatthe north would come to the fore inth e next ten years. 0The PLAIN TRUTH December 1976

THE NEXTEMBARGOAfter the oil embargo of 1973-74,President Nixon. with much fanfare,la unched " Project Ind ependence,"an amalgam of governmen t and priva te effort s to make the Uni tedSta tes less dependent on Arab oil.Today, however, the U.S. is more

dependent than ever on Arab oil,an d tha t dependence is growing.This vulne rab ility has come aboutlargely because of Am erica's fai lureto achieve any significant reductionin energy consumption. or even inthe yea rly rate of increa se in energyconsumption.

The ex tent of America's reli anceon impor ted oil can be illustrated bythe se facts : Total de mand for o il inthe U.S . has reached the stagge ringfigure of 17.4 million barrels a day.But domestically, the U.S. has beenprod ucing less tha n 10.2 millionbarrels a day, and tha t figure issteadily skidd ing downwa rd. It is all'mor e than 13% from its 1970 pea k.Th is mean s about 7.2 million barrels a day must be imported.

At the same time . demand is increas ing to the point where theAmerican Petroleum Institute predicts tha t impor ts will go up to eightmi llion barrels a day in 1977. In thewords of John H. Lichtblau of NewYork's Petroleum Research Founda tion : "Our vulnerability io anembargo increase s every day."And not on ly is the U.S. importing more oil , but more of that oil iscoming from potentially vulnerab lesources. Am erica's long-time steadysuppliers, Ca nada and Venezuela ,ar e now supplying proportionate lyless of Am erica's o il - Can ada, becau se it has decided to curtail a ll oilexports : Venezue la . be cause it "wants to co nserve its o il and raisethe price .

The ne t effect is tha t the eco nomic position of the U.S. - andthe whole ind ustrialized world . forthat matter - remains extreme lyprecarious. London's Institute ofSt rategic Stud ies has repeatedlywarned tha t should another MiddleEast wa r erupt, any ensuing oi l embargo by the Arab states would leadto "econom ic ruin" for the West.The las t emba rgo cost the U.S.

alone over $20 billion in lost GN Pand some 500,000 jo bs. Cu rrent congressional estimates conclude tha t asix-mo nth embargo wou ld now costat least $55 billion and more than1.5 mi llion jobs. Treasury SecretaryWilliam Simon says that the U.S. issimp ly no t ready to withstand another embargo, which would makethe last one seem "like a picnic ."Some experts already have a clea ridea of how the U.S. would respondif Arab oi l sta tes ever resort to anembargo aga in. Says Lich tbl au :"You could cut 2.5 million barrels ada y of gasoline demand by eliminating nonessent ia l driving. Youcould cut 10% to 15% of our heat ingoil co nsump tion and another 15%from elec tric utili ties . You co uldcurtail airl ine travel. But you'd havemass ive unemployment, gasolinesta tions shuu ing down by the thousands, motels and resorts and everythi ng tha t goes with it. . . . You[would] creat e a disastrous rece ssion."Commerce Secretary Elliot Rich

ardson sounds even g loom ier. Hesays the results of another embargo"could be literally catas trophic."Under the worst possible circumstances - such as if there were compa ratively lillie oil sto red in the U.S.when the embargo began - theGN P loss cou ld soa r to an annua lra te of $ I70 billion, and up to 4.8million jo bs could be lost.Richa rdson has sa id that such aharsh impact in terms of jobs andeconomic growt h might force a frantic search for a "prompt int ernat ional so lution.""Some, no doub t," add s Richard son , "would argue for abandonmentof our tradit ional su pport for thestate of Isra el. Others would de

ma nd forcefu l intervention againstthe Arabs. Either course of actioncou ld fun damenta lly desta bilize theinternational balance of power andthreaten ultimately to involve theUn ited States in a major militarystruggle."Despite the nea r total apathy withwhich the Amer ican pub lic has rece ived the various warnings abo utthe co untry's vulnerability to an-other emba rgo, the fac t still rem ainsthat the U.S. is importing more oilthan eve r, and more of that comesfrom the volatile Mideast. 0

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"Come only if you cherish freedom. Then you will be happy in America.Here you read what you wish, and think what you will."- Vladimir Mat lin. Former Soviet citizen

THESOVIET JEWSMaking It inAmericaby Frances Halpern . Photos by Paul Slaughter

The subject of recent Jewish immigration to the United States from the Soviet Union has been largely overtookedthe news media. The Jewish Federation Council does not publicize the arrivat of the immigrants. and the Ugovernment's only involvement is to agree to tet them in. The Soviet Jews do not accept government aid in any foand are supported and launched into American society solely by funds collected by Jewish federations aroundcountry. But now. as we near the end of America 's bicentenniat year. it is filtmg that this story of new "huddmasses yearning to be free" be told. The author is a free-lance writer living in the Los Angetes area. - The EditorTe huge jet touched down atLos Angeles airport in an earlymorning mist bringing to theNew World a group of SovietJews. pawns in an international po-litical drama which began when6

they summoned up the courage toseek exit visas in Russia. They'vele ft Moscow and insk. Odessa andKiev . They have bee n proc essedand coun seled in Vienna and Rome.and now they are in Am erica. Refu-

gees. Most of them without fundpsycho logically un prepared. progandized people from a police stfu ll of ho pe and anxiety . ex ultatand fear.and many misconceptioWaiting for them are social woThe PLAIN TRUTH December 1


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NEWLY ARRIVED IMMIGRANTS counsel with Diane Ammund, head 01 the Jewish Family Service. Soviet Jews do nquickly accept newspeople and pho tographers . and this family did no t want their pictures taken .

c rs an d volunteers from th e J ewi shFamily Service of Los An ge les. Twocultures meet, tense as they eye eachother. On e hea rs words of welcom efrom th e Am eri can stra nge rs andmu rmurs in Ru ss ian from th e ref ugees. They are led to waitin g cars,and befor e th e da y is OUI . they aresettled in ap a rtments ren ted forth cm by th e Jewish ag ency.Hesitant to Ta lkTh e immig ra n ts ha ve bee n a rr ivingin sma ll fa m ily gro u ps fo r th e pastfour yea rs. a nd the Los Angeles ex-peri ence is be ing rep ea led in a num ber o f la rge c ities throughout th ecountry.

Months later in a sma ll, spa rse lyfurnished ap artmen t. on e o f thefa milies is will ing to talk ah ou t whyand wha t th ey left in Ru ssi a and th eshock of entry int o a free-wheelingAm erica.

The family admits they a re a pprehe nsive a bo ut an invitation from theRab bi to a tte nd a religious service8

in the nearby synagogue. "Maybewe won' t go." These new imm i-grants have"" not sough t ou t the rel igious community a nd are un sure ofth em selves in ant icipation of a no the r tota lly new exper ience. Aft ersix months in Los An geles. th eykn ow that th e propaganda fed themby th e Sov iet go vernment was fullof terrib le distortions. but the y hadsome fantasies of their ow n abou tAmerica which a lso proved to beuntru e. Th ey a re so rting it a ll out.while strugg ling with a difficult newlanguage .

While still in Moscow. th ey hadheard about se rmons in Americansy n agog ues d ealin g wi t h thei rplight. They were aware o r Sen a torHenry Jack son and his at tempt totic trade dea ls to imm igrat ion. Messa ges from Israe l and Am eri ca encoura g ed the r es t less Lc w i s hmi no rities to seek ex it visas , Separat ed from religiou s experience andfreedom of choice, but still identi fied as a suspect "national ity" in

the ir hom eland . they responded..a ncient cry. " Let My Peo p( J( l .

For years, Isra el has encouragJew s cve ry".'here to come hom efu lfill the prophecy of retu rn . In tlast few yea rs. Jewish di ssidenha ve s tepped up thei r prot est s aRu ssian in tellectua ls have so ugmore free do m for a ll Soviet citizeFo llowing detente and trad e dealsfew o r th e Soviet Union's th ree mlio n Jewish cit ize ns ha ve beallowed to lea ve.At first , ju st a few hundred wepermitted to leave. T hen a few thosa nd. By 1974 mor e th an 100 .0had gotten out of Russia. mostthem going (0 Isra el.Now. however. in eve r increaspercen tages a nd fo r a va riety of reso ns. Russian Je ws who ar e gra ntexit visa s are choosing to live inUn ited Sta tes and Canada . In 19on ly 290 Sovie t Jews emigratedthe Uni ted Sta tes . By 1975 6.0were making th eir hom es in 22 m



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TEACHER JUDY TONKA coaches Jack Gos is on English grammar. Gosis attended night classes for three monthsbefore he mastered the language well enough to get a jo b. At right. 75-year-old Olga t.etevr listens intently.

j o r Ame rica n ci ties wh ere there arcJ ewish orga niza tio ns wil ling toco unsel and support them.Ad ju sting to a T ot ally Di ffe rent LifeThe d rama tic a ttemp t to re build thelives o f Ru ssian Jews in an a lienculture is shepherded by Jew ishFe de ra tion Cou ncil (JFC) s taffI11C!l1bers who arc strugg ling for ando ften qu a rre ling with th em in thebattle to integrate. house, feed. andfind jo bs lor the m in a sha ky A rnerican eco nomy . Th e fede ra t io n .rounded more than 50 yea rs agoa nd fu nded by Un ited Jewish Ap peal , is th e officia l organizationwh ich guarantees to suppo rt the re fugees. who cannot accep t aid fromU.S . government age ncies. lest theirsta tus as potenti al citizens be je opa rdized . W ithin da ys of th e ir a rrival.th e imm igrants arc tot a lly involvedin a co nce ntra te d th ree-mon th p rogram a imed prima rily a t teachingthem English a nd ge tt ing them jo bs.Fu nds for ren t . food , a nd o the rThe PLAIN TRUTH December 1976

need s' are prov ided a long with freemedical a nd den tal ca re du ringthose first th ree month s. ......Eac h fami ly is assigned a coun-selor. wh o wit h th e hel p o r vo lun

te e rs (som e R uss ian spe a ki ng)guide s th e imm igrants th rough ori-entat io n wo r ksho ps, int rod ucesthem to the city's resources. schools.and neig hbo rhoods. listens to perso na l pro blems. an d sha res informa tion abo ut every th ing fro m b irthcontro l to how to shop in an Am er ica n superma rket.T he Jewish Vocat ion Service ofJ FC faces enormous headaches infinding jo bs for the immigran ts whobelieved th at the ir skills as sc ientists,doctors, eng inee rs. or managem entexecutives wou ld be in g rea t demand here. However. th ei r Ru ssianed ucation o fte n does no t meet spe-cific Ame rican curr icular sta ndards ,and opportunities to retra in are expens ive and limi ted . Th e immi g ra n ts d o no t un d e rst and theconcep t o r upward mobility. an d

they a rc shocked a nd bitter whenthey rea lize it co uld ta ke yea rs (ifeve r) be fore they ca n continue the irca reers in the United States.Th ey a rc wa rned by the ir vocation a l co unse lors that at the end of

the three-mo n th o rie ntation per iodthey must conside r a ny job whichcomes along . Believing that theywill be trap ped in menia l work . theyar c often te rr i fied and be lligeren t.Th ey have ju st left a country wherepeople a re locked in to jobs at anea rly age . a nd where soc ia l sta ndi ngand the op portun ity to ea rn favo rsfrom the gove rnment (chauffeu redcars, lu xuriou s vaca t ion s. goodapa rtme nts) depend on job cla ssification.

Life in th e U.S.S.R.. say the im m igrants. is fu ll of tensio n an d pressu re. Salaries arc miserly. which iswhy eve ry ad ult in a fami ly mu stwork. Soviet ja i ls a rc Iull o r peoplewho were caught stea ling in orde r tosupp lement th ei r sma ll incomes . Afac tory worker ea rn s a n ave rage of9


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140 rubles a mon th - approxi mate ly SI85 a t the official excha ngerat e o f S I.32 to th e ruble.T he on ly wa y ou t of the me nialj ob s is higher edu cat io n . Com

petit ion to ha ve one 's children ad mitted into the crowded inst itu tionsand un ive rsities is fierce . Bribes a rccommonplace. and be ing a memberin good sta nd i ng wi th th e Commu nist Par ty helps. Bu t Jews arc incre asingly finding that the un iversitydoors a rc closing to them .The Soviet sta le encourages edu

ca tion by providing s tipends to stud en ts. However. the aovcmrncnta lso manipu lates the choice of careers for its citizens. I f the go vernment d ecid es it ne ed s miners o rengineers ra th er than jou rna lis ts ordentists. money fo r s tudvin a den tistry or j ournalism simplyor d isappears .Mobility is limited. A change o rjob . a mov e from one c ity to anot he r- or even fro m one apar tment toa no ther - ca nno t be accomplishedwithout o fficial permiss io n . In addition , d ropp ing out to ex ploretions is dan ge rou s behav ior in th eU .S.S.R . It is legall y a nd mora llywrong to he wit hout work. " Parasit ism" is a n ug ly cha rge wh ich canbring a j ai l term . When Jewish families seek exit visas, th ey find the irch ildren 's position s at the un iversi tyj eopardi zed. a nd th ey ma y lose theirjob a nd sec pen sion s withdrawnfro m thei r eld erl y parents.

Out of o ne pressu re cooke r an din to a no the r. th e immigran ts a rc no ta lways docile a nd full .....o f grat itude .Som e fede ra t io n cou nselors re fer toth em a s " hos tile, bo rde ring on pa ra no id ." The Ru ss ian s say the ag encyexecutives are j us t a no ther bunch ofbu reaucra ts. muc h like th e onesth ey fac ed in the U.S.S.R.

The im migrants hav e difficu ltyd is tingu ishing be tween th e lim iteda u th o rity o f a n officia l o f a vo lunteer institut ion like the Jewish Fed e r a t io n and the go v e r n m e n tbureaucrats in th e Sovi et Union.

Since jobs dep end on thei r abilityto usc En glish . thcre is heavy pressu re on the imm igrants to learn thela n gu a ge quick ly . Th ey a t t endschoo l Iive days a week for the lirstmon th and the n fou r night s a wee ka t a high schoo l during thc next twomon th s . T hey a rc esp ec ially fond o f10

one of their teac hers, J ud y Tonka . a25 -yea r-ol d I l unga rian re fugee inth is co u ntry o n ly eight ye ars. Heren thu s ia sm inspires them - s inceshe lea rn ed Eng lish a t the sameschoo l and now has a co llege de gree .T he re is hu mor in the cla ss alonawith the frus tra tion or havinglearn everything so fast . J ud ySam to use the wo rd angry in ase n tence. He sa id. "Evcr',:' da y attwelve o'clock I ge t angry." Judy .pe rplexed , di scovered he mean thungry . Ol ga, a nother student said,"All men ge t angry when hungry : 'The cla ss broke up in laughter a ndagr eed tha t angry a nd hun gry canmea n th e same th ing .

Du ring the d ay in th is same h ighschoo l th e ch ildren of the refugeesta lk about how much be tte r the\'like schoo l in America . T here is Ie ;"regimentation. schoo l only five in stead o f six d ays a wee k. a nd mo sti m po r tant , {ree d o m to makechoices, " \Ve ca n choose our ca reers. Ther e is no governme nt to te llus what to study:'"I Have Never Seen So Much Food"It is sti ll am azing to th e refu geesthat th e re arc so man y cho ices theyca n make to r th emselves. T he 101lowing rem a rks were made wit h th eunde rsta nd ing th a t th ey would berecorded a nonymous ly . Fear lo rrelat ives in Ru ssia is one reason ." In Ru ssia there is a say ing. If

yo u ca t we ll. yo u don ' t s leep well.A nd if yo u sleep well. yo u don't e atso well. U nderstand?" The re followsa tal c o f black mark etecrin n as awav of life tor rnanv Soviet citizens.

p rices a re T wopo unds o f apples ca n cos t 53. a suitof clothes S150. a pa ir o f shoes 540.W ith take-h om e pay or S IOO amonth, the an.- rage Ru ss ian can' tbu y ne cessities. even though ren t ischeap an d medical services anded ucation arc free ." Peop le have to stea l in Ru ssia tomak e a living. It costs many rubles

to buy good me a t the butche r keepsin the back of his store. Food is no tin such ab und ance in U.S .S.R'"

"Wh en I wal ked in to America nsuperma rket for first lime, I cou ld n' tbe lieve. I ha ve neve r seen so mu chfood in o ne p lace in my life . Myeycs were so big. I just wa lke d

a roun d loo king. loo king. po intito uching: 'Why is the bread so bad

America '? In Sov ie t Un ion the bris ve.:ry goo d . I ler r ing too ishere . I m is s th e her ring f rOdessa." ...." Russia is a beautifu l couwith lot s o f la nd to grow food

ca n ' t understand why shortageseverything there . Long lines tofre sh fruit. It is a bad govern mThey spo i l a low ly land ."Thcrc"s plenty of vodka.Russ ia ns get vc ry dr unk . figh t inrestaurants. On Sunday mornthere 's no place to sit on th e bencin the parks - so man y slee pingdru nk . J ew ish people don' t drlike that in U.S.S.R""Medic ine in Russia is free . Cadoctor. he comes qu ickly to ,

hou se . Thcv to ld us onlv mi llaires in Amer ica can ge l ~ C l O r . ""Medicine is free - but nogood medicine . Docto rs no t trai

in the Uni ted Sta tes. Peoplefro m had medicine in Russia .man y pa tie nts, ha rd to do gmed icin e the re. Doctors cos t mmon ey her e thou gh : ''"In Ru ssia I was a den t ist.re la tive wro te to me from Amean d sa id I cou ld be rich work indent ist here. Now I lin d I cannoa den t is t a t a ll. I wa s going to s1110ncy to brin g more l;mil)' to Cforn ia . I cry much at nigh two rry abou t rny fam ily in Ru ssia" I wa s a pediat ric ian for 20 yeHere I a m ju s t a n ill iterate womwho ca n 't eve n speak properlylan guage. I mu st tell my chilnot to come . They too a re docbu t it is not possib le for th empr act ice medicine here : '" It wa s getting bad fo r us.fu ture for People don' tlieve he re in U.S. a bo ut Sovieternrnent. Read Solzhen itsvn. I{about j a ils . work camps. Th en yoknow abou t U.S.S.R'-" It's a crazy govern me nt. Tdon 't let yo u be Je w ish . a nd

don ' t le t yo u not be Jewish . I asfor visa . They take my job away .VITALE EFROS, a lover 01 muhandsome c lothes. and Jewishture escorts his daughter Angfrom the Jewish Center. whereis learning abou t her heritage.

The PLAIN TRUTH December


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aIJJt[l). :Ij-:1j'J

11ecember 1976The PLAIN T R U T H ~ ~ ~ ~ = ~ : : : ~ ~ ~ - ~ ~


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VIOLINIST Alex Treger practices for a concer t wi th the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. A former studentDavi d Oistrakh in Moscow. Alex was not allowed to take his violin ou t of Russia."O thers besides J C\\l S wan t toge t ou t . They have nowh ere toturn . Man y good frie nds in Russia- not only Jewish wou ld love toleave.""He re in Los Angel es everyonepairs a ir. I am lonely. In Russia thehigh schoo l students go around in

grou ps. I miss that. I mi ss myfriends: '"The subway in Moscow is beau-tiful. Why doesn 't Los Angeles havesuch a tran spor tation?""The Soviet governmcnt has goodconsti tut ion like in America. Buthere the law works. In U.S.S.R,

mind con t rol is mor e impo rtan tth an law."Ch il dhood Dream FulfilledFo rmer Soviet journa list a nd screenwri ter Vladimir Matlin and his wifeAnna . who practiced law in Russia.a re willing to talk open ly. " I wantthe people in th e Soviet Union aswell as the immigrants a lready hereto understand why we came to12

Amer ica:' says Matlin. "Come on lyif you cherish freed om. Yo u will beha ppy he re then . In Russia there isno freedom in politics. no freed omfo r intellect . No rel igiou s life . NoJewish life. Th ey check yo ur behav ior. and they want to know a lwayswha t is in you r mind . It may behard for us now in America . but wecan read wha t we wish and thinkwha t we will: 'The Marlins were successfu l inRussia. They owned their apartmen tin Moscow (run like American con

dominiums). But. Matlin savs hedream ed o f America since hewas achild and cam e at the first opportunity. Anna talk s a litt le abou t thepr act ice of law in Russia. "T rainingis not up to American standa rds.and there are gove rnmen t lawyersand priv a te lawyers. T he government lawye rs. pro secuto rs. a ndj udges arc usua lly not Jewish. Onlythe pri va te lawyers who defend accuscd persons tend to he Jewish."she exp lains.

T heir 17-yea r-old daugh ter Mrina love s Los Angeles. the sshine . "and schoo l is a litt leeasier here than in Moscow: 'says happily, She leaps to ansthe ringin g phone and her fatsighs and says. "She thinks shegro\\'n woma n: ' Mar ina's motadds, "M aybe there is a litt lemuch freed om for you ng peohere?"For ano the r fam ily. in Los Anles j ust three months. the sac rifthey made to ge t ou t of Russia a

the fran tic, fruitless sea rch for jfor fam ily members had mad e thanx ious and ner vo us and cauthem to won der if they d id the rith ing. In Russia. the mother wapracticing dentist a nd the fathesuccessfu l con struct ion engineThei r tee n-age daught er s attenschoo l where they d id not admicla ssmates they were Jewish .One daughte r says. " In RuI'm afra id to tell I am Jewishdon ' t look like Jewish, I hea r otThe PLAIN TRUTH December 1


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students in school say had thingsa bou t Jews. I feel hurt inside and Idon't even know really what is aJew. Here I can learn . Here I wearthe S tar o f David."Price Tag for Freedom - $30,0001Rel uctan t to release ed uca ted , pro-d uctive citizens from her often bitterembrace. the Soviet governmentmakes it dangerous and very ex-pensive to seek exit visas. You couldbecome a n otk azniki (re fuse d ). loseyo ur job. and be la beled a pa rasi teand a ta rge t of the KG B. However.one fa mily a pp lied fo r their visasdu ring a soft pe riod (N ixon wa s inRu ssia) . a nd th ings moved a longq u ickly. Jack, a factory man a ge r.and his wife Bela, a music teacher atthe Moscow Conservatory. weregranted exit visas along with theirdau gh ter Ludmilla . he r husband Alexander. a concert violinist. andtheir baby Victoria, now four yearso ld .

They we re cha rge d th e reg ula rhead tax of a lmost $ 1.000 for eachadult. In addition the governmentfigured that the Moscow Universityed uca tion tha t Ludmilla a nd Alexhad received was wort h $25.000.T he family so ld ev ery th ing theyowned of value. including house-hold goods. a nd pai d th e $30.000 toge t out. A rea l hea rt ach e for themwas the government not allowingAlex to ta ke h is vio lin with him .Someone offe red to smuggle it out.but the instrument was never re-trieved.T he family first went to Israel.an d the n imm igra ted to Detroi t.Th ey a ll came to Los An geles whe nAlex , who had been a student o f therenowned violinist. David Oistra kh ,success fully a ud itioned I,,, th e LosAnge les Phi lha rmonic Orche stra .Alex says he was nervous when herealized he would be com pe tingagainst 35 other violinists. Jackturned down a j ob o ffer from a Canad ian firm because it would be un th inka ble for h im a nd Bela to bepa rt ed fro m thei r ehildre n a ndgr a ndc h ild .

Th ei r grea test joy has bee n th eb irth of Ludmi lla 's second ch ildwh om th ey named Richard M ichae!. "F irst American citizen infamily," says grandma Bela. "I s itpos sib le fo r such a chi ld to be pr esi-The PLAIN TRUTH December 1976

dent?" she asks. "Has there everbeen a Jewish president'?" Bela l'a-resses the baby's lingers. "Perhaps itis be tte r he sho uld be violinist likehis pa pa ."These arc not bloodied refugeeslleeing from grinding poverty andda ily physica l danger. Th ese a repeop le who gave up careers. fam ily.a nd friends. Why?"W ha t ca n I tell you?" says Vitale, a lively young Russian who iscrazy about American jazz and Jew-ish folk melod ies. mu sic he co uldn'thea r in the U.S.S. R. " In Russiaeveryone must carry identificationpapers. and whenever you have tosign a ny thing, they ask three qu estions: Last name. first name. nation-a lity . An d no ma ile r if you havenever even been in a synagogue.yo u have to say Jew."The Soviet government censuslists citizens according to nation-a lities dep ending on where in theU.S .S.R. their ance stors came from .There are Russians. Georgians. Ta-tars, Lithuanians. Ukranians, Arme-ni a n s. a n d Mo l d a v i a ns amo n go th er s - a nd Jews. A Jew cann o tclaim an ancestral home in Russiano matter how many centuries hebas bee n th er e.Vi ta le had listen ed to Voice o fAm er ica for yea rs. " No t for poli tics.fo r m usic," he says . He left the Sovie t Un ion last yea r wi th his bea utiful wife, Alia , an ac tress. and thei rfour-year-old da ught er Angela . T heon ly thi ngs th ey brought wit h th emwe re ph on ogra ph records and somefam ily pho togr ap hs. Vita le was a$ 130-a-month enginee r in a factorywh ich mad e sh ip and plan e engi nes.Along with his love of mu sic, hesay s he likes to design a nd mak eclothes. He is plea sed with a n aw a rdhe ea rn ed at a Moscow fash ionshow for his creation of men's suits."O h, bu t Am er ica has the mostbe a utiful clo thes in the world ," head ds.Vitale's mother. a violinist. andhi s fat he r, a ret ired doctor , a re st illin Russia . Bot h Alia an d Vitale los tthe ir jobs when they a pp lied fo r ex itvisas. a nd the fam ily had to hel pthem ra ise the $2,000 for the headta x a nd the fare they needed to getou t. T hey chose Los Angeles, th inking th at Ali a might lind wo rk as a nac tre ss. One of the best stu den ts in

the English language class. she ISde te rmi ned to lea rn qu ickly,Pawns in Superpower PoliticsJournalist Matlin says it is a ridiculo us, but very complex situation fort he Jews of Ru ssia. "They do n' ta llow yo u to be Jewish re lig iously,"he explains. " no Jewish teachers.one synagogue in Moscow. a city of500 ,00 0 J ews . Th e cons ti tuti o nstates it is against the law to makeracial slurs . but there is such hatredfo r Jews. The government wants 10know who they a re and where th eyarc a t all times."Resea rch psychologists Vladim irand his wife, Victor ina, have been inLos Angeles e ight months. " In Russiawe were slaves, pawns to be sold andexchanged." It is d ist ressing to th isco uple who de scribe th e feel ing ofbeing so ld . "We talk of trad e a ndde tente between U.S.S.R. and UnitedSta tes. Wha t ha ppen s? U.S.S.R. se llsJews. So many Jews for so m uchtrade." Th ey came to Los Ange leswith their son An dre and Vladimir 'smo th er O lga . T hey a re wo rk ing a tUC LA on Fo rd gra nts wh ich will berunning out soon.Vladimi r, tuggin g a t his fo rehe adin sea rch of the English words, says,"You must understand. In Russia itis not so bad i f yo u are meek citizen.Do not quarrel with government.Joi n Communist par ty. If you a nnoyth e gov ernmen t, you ca n be sent tomen tal insti tuti on ." They descr ibe afriend's condition after his returnfrom such a hospital. "Someth ingwas done to his mind. He was sickwith fea r, suspic ious of everyth ingand everyone."Rab bi Zvi De rshowitz of Los An ge les S ina i Temp le visited the Soviet Un ion rece ntly and describedwha t he found : "An impossible situ ation for anyone wanting privacyand freedom from fear. I am con-vinced th a t my wife and I were fol -lowed a nd bugged wherever wewe n t," sa id the Ra bb i. T he Sovietgovernment wants to know which ofth ei r citizens is ta lki ng to a ra bbifrom America. The secret police areeve rywhere. He sa id Jews we re ha rassed if they a tte mpt to speak out orget out. Telephones are cut off; ele-vators break down. Everyone won-ders who 's the KG B spy in th ea par tmen t bu ilding. who it is in the

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fac tory. at the office, o r in the schoo lroom. Who's pok ing in the mail?On Saturday morning th e st ree ts

su rrounding the only synagogue inMo scow are filled w ith Jewish cit ize ns seeking informat io n they ca nbe lieve about wha t's go ing on in thewo rld , a nd th e streets a rc als o filledwit h police trying to find out wha tth e Jews are finding out. Inside thesynagogue o ld men and womenpray. The yo unger ones stay outside . Th e few religiou s leaders arcrefer red to as "Red Rabb is." T heyand the ir ass istants are looked uponas the government's crea tures andnot to be trusted . "They arc chosenby the gove rnment and approved bythe governme nt: ' say the Russian s."A Soviet Jew knows what he isrunning from when he de cides 10leave ," ex plains Rab bi Der showitz," b ut he also le aves the ce rta inty o f ajob and a pension of 90% o f h issa lary at retir em ent age . He esca pesregimentat ion . and he sacrificessecurity . This is not a lways an ea sychoice ."Impact of theCzechoslovakian InvasionTwo world-s haking m ilitary eventsaffected the attitudes and ac tions ofRussians desperate fo r more libertyfo r th emselves a nd th ei r fe llowco untrymen. according to RabbiDershowitz a nd Vlad imir Matlin . Anew pri de in Israel following th estu nn ing de fea t th e Arabs sufferedin the 19 67 Six-Day Wa r resulted inan upsurge of Zionism in the Sovie tU nion . A year la te r Sov iet armoreddi vis ions occ upied Czecho slovak ia .bru ta lly crushi ng the Czech government's att em pts to create "comm unism wit h a human face ." Shockgripped th e libera ls in Ru ssia, acco rd ing to Mat lin , an d they realizedthe ir ow n dreams of a free r Sovietsociety were dead.Jews. see ing the future looming asoppressive as eve r, stepped up theirdemands to be let out of Russia, anda ca pr ic io us governmen t begancracking down on a ll dissidentsagain . Because of Z ionist acti v ity .the average Sovie t Jew was suspect- no ma tte r wha t he did or thought.It was ge lli ng more difficult thanever for young Jews to en ter theuni versities beca use the gove rnme ntfe lt there was "no sense educat ing14

Jews. T hey' ll o nly run off to Israelor Am erica ." So with measures ge tling more repressive, more .! C\I,.'Sso ught exit visas. As more exi t visa swere sought and the gove rnmentlost still furth er repressivemeasures were enacted. The cycleco nt inues to th is day .The Emigration ProcessWh en th e Soviet s give a fam ily per m issi on to lea ve (sometimes afterdelayin g for yea rs), th e head ta xand fa re to Vienna is acc umulated ,By th e tim e th e fa mi ly ge ts toVienna , th ey a rc ge nera lly with ou tfunds. The United Hebrew Imm igra tion Aid Soci et y (H IAS), an organ iza tio n dedicated to relocatingrefugees. assum es finan ci al responsib ility . Later when th e fam ily is onits feet aga in, th ey arc expe cte d topa y back th e money ex tended . Th eim migrants go on to Rom e wherethe processing and wai ting can beanywhere from a few weeks to manymonth s . Here co unse l ing begin sabout Am erica . and here too iswhe re a suspic ious Sov iet Jew. liedto a ll h is life about government o fficials. has to begin to learn to trust anew se t of offic ia ls."O ne th ing th ey a re likely to be

lieve ," says Di ane Arn rnund, headof the Soviet division of JewishFamily Se rvice in Los A nge les . "areth e fantasies abou t life in ' Hollywood' imp arted to a Ru ssian Jew byan Itali an co unse lor!" Th e agencyhas tried to so lve th e problem bysending on to Rom e new informa tion abo ut the realities of life in LosAnge les writte n by sta ll' a nd fo rme rSoviet Jews now livin g in 'Hollywood. ' "T hey arrive in Los An geles a ndAmerica a littl e better pr eparednow , b ut s ti ll ree ling from thetrauma of del ivering themselvesfrom a reg ime nted society into aperm iss ive cu lture. and then havi ngto re ly so comp letely on the Jew ishFederatio n Co unci l fo r guidance ,an d fina lly struggling to find theroad to independence . "They a re bynature a demanding and aggressivegroup ." says Ms. Amm und . "Theyhad to be to get out o f th e SovietU nion."Now they arc beg inning to o rga

nize se lf-help commi ttees. Those im-pa tient with th e Jew ish Fede ration

Council have created the Society oFormer Sovie t Jews. Th ey arc working with Los A ngeles busine ssmaSi Frumkin . an organizer of thSouthern California Counci l fo r Sovie t Jews. which was respon sible fothe "Save Soviet Jewry" bannerthe cand le ligh t marches. lett ers anvisi ts to Ru ss ia, and a gene ra lly activ ist approach . Frumki n is criticof the federation. say ing tha t thea long with the Israeli go ve rnmenhad opted for a sf", (qu iet) policbe lie vin g that publicity wou ld brinreprisal s aga inst Jews in the SovieU nion.Lea rning to Live Without FearThings a re ha ppen ing in the Jewisre ligiou s co mm unity a lso . RabDe rshowitz, chairman . and the boarof rabbis of Los Angeles to ok formaac tion a imed at reaching out to threfugee s. A coordina ted e ffort amo na ll synagogues will begin to offem embership to the immigrant s. enco urage enrollme nt of their child rein the Hebrew schoo ls. and involvthe Ru ssian s ge nera lly in th e life othe synagogue.

So . some of the po litica l pawnare here - slaves so ld ou t o f bo ndage . A few arc gingerly fee linaround the edges of free do m, learning to make cho ices. Some like Mali n hav e j umped r ight int o thmi dd le of freedom. a ll br idgebu rned. T he refugees are still sus pc iou s , fe a r fu l , co pin g , mak i nfriends. earning a few enemies. Thgame of poli t ical ma neuvering goeon am ong th e wo rld 's lead ers. Refugee s become face less s ta tistic"W e' ll give you 35,000 Jews. What'yo u give us in retu rn?" So muctrad e for so many Jews - a pol it icreali ty .R eality is also two women ta lkinto each o ther. One is a Russian immigran t: the oth er is an AmericaA favor was needed . and a favowas done . T he Russian lady. hvo ice filled with em oti on , said, "on ly I had the English word s to temy thanks. I have so many Ru ssiawords 1know to say ."

"Say them ." sa id the Americalad y. " I wi ll un dersta nd wit h mheart."

"I wish Sov iet gove rnme nt woulis ten wi th heart ." replied the refgee lady . 0



17/48

Intlation sho uld 11m \' be added todea th an d taxes. Was th ere eve r atime when prices weren't con tinua lly sk ipp ing up an eternal incline"Economists tell us that. yes. back inth e dee pest pre-Keynesian d ay sprior to 1932. prices actually weren 'talways going up. Most of us ali venow. hov..'e ve r. have never knownsuc h condition s. and those who haveca n also remember o the r suc h antediluvian phenomena as prohibit ion.raccoon coa ts. a nd speakea sies.Inflat ion. in short . is wit h us Lastay . The inte lligent thing to dowould be to try to make the best ofit.The knee-jerk resp.on se to innat ion on the part of many august

authorities in the wor ld of pe rsonalfina ncia l he lp is to recommend anynumber of assor ted . esoteric. andot herwise elab ora te combina tions ofinvestments in gold. stocks. silver. orlike as not, Swiss fra ncs and Eurobonds . Th is line of approach.however. presumes that tho se inneed of their advice have enoughmoney already to make it worthwhil e to study the intricacies o f foreign currencies or commodityop t ions . Most o f us. however. ar cno t yet in the mone tary big leagues.Ou r ap proach must be a hit lessesot eric.o Invest in YourselfThe prem ier st ra te uv for copingwith inflation is. if ~ i b l e . to investin on e 's self. In essence. the ideatranslates into some sort of vocationa l t rain ing. Instead of ploppingdown one 's ha rd -ea rned cas h onThe PLAIN TRUTH December 1976

The f a m o u s econom is t , LordK eyn es, when asked abou t thelong-range effects of his policies ,answered: " I n the long run , we'reall dead. " Well , the long run ishere now, and those of us whoare still around have to live in aworld of continually rising prices.This mea ns the smart consumerwill know the steps to m inimizethe impact of inflation on hispocketbook.

some "can 't-miss" commodi ty op tion or hot stock. one can spend themoney on acquiring a marketab leskill.Mos t individuals in the U.S. andCa nada have some sort of highereducation open to them . At localco lleges. ma ny of which arc extremely low in cost. one ca n lear naccoun ting . drafting. engi neering .bu siness management. finance. o rparamedical work. a ll of which arein high demand these days. Or. atlocal trade and voca tional schools.one can become proficient in automotive repair. mac hine shop operatio ns. woodwork . upholstery work.or any nu mb er of other lines ofwork.

If one can acq uire a good job.one's \vages will ten d to incre ase asprices go up. Of course . some jobsdo better than others. but in a modern economy. even most low-payingjo bs ' i l l sec continual cost-of-livingwage Increa ses.O ne must remember that it isn'ted uca tio n per se, but education

by JeffCalkinslcading to employmen t which COI1-st itutcs a bona fide " investment."E ) suy a HouseTraditionally . both the U.S. andCanada have been graced with at remendous amoun t of open space.Th is over-abunda nce of land keptth e price of rea l estate. an d hence ofhousing. re lative ly low. Eve n today.shelter - on e of man 's pr ima ryneeds - still costs less in No rthAmer ica than it docs in Europe orJapan.

Today. however. const ruc t ioncosts. la bor costs. government regulations. and the internal dynamicsof th e rea l estate market havejacked the prices of homes beyo ndthe reach of many families. Wha t'sworse. it is another vicious cycle. Asmore and more peop le buy homesat infla te d pr ices. th ey are forced tosel l their homes fo r more th an theypa id for thcm in order to be able tobuy their nex t home .The net effec t is that housing has

become a nece ssary inves tmen t ifone can afford it: the hitch beingtha t the app reciation of one's investment will probab ly bc ea ten up bythe higher p rice of one's nex t dwe lling place. (In the U.S .. th ere is aca pita l ga ins tax on the profit onemakes from selling one's hom e for ahig he r price tha n one pai d for it.The only way to get out of it is tobuy another house. The law. ofcou rse. causes the continued inflation in rea l esta te values becausemoney which might have beenspent elsewhere is pumped backin to the housing market.)

15


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Th e mo ra l to the sto ry is that inorder to mee t thei r basic need for apl ace to live, a famil y ought to bu y ahouse or condominium. Besides therise in the va lue of one 's property,th er e are lax advantages: On e candeduct th e mortgage interest andp rope rty taxes from on e's taxableincome. F u rthe rmore, by bu ying ahou se. one ca n stabilize for a periodof 30 yea rs the amount of moneywhich mu st go for hou sin g ea chmonth . (Unfortun a tely. one can ' tsta b ilize one' s prop erty tax.) It is th eonly way to insul ate one's familyfro m bein g a t th e mercy of a land-lord. whose own costs a re a lwaysrisin g.E) Mobil ize the Whole FamilyThroughout most of history. wiveshav e worked, usually a longs ide theirhusban ds in the fields, in an agrarian economy. The industrial revolu-tion, however. produced sufficient'p rosperity wh ich, when combinedwi th th e Victori an tend en cy to putwomen on a pedestal. led to an incre asing tendency fo r non workingwives.

Gen erally, th e fact th at a wifedoesn't have to compe te in th e la bormarket is a grea t blessing to a family. Many, if not most women, intrinsically pr efer th e wo rk of ahou sewife to the work of. say , a ste nograph er o r a n accou nta n t. Ahou sewife ge nerally ha s much morecon trol of her daily schedule, mu chmore time to a tte nd to the businessof the fami ly's needs. an d more timeto pursue interests or hobb ies tha ndoes her hu sband, who is genera llyregimen ted on an eight-to-fivetre adm ill, in lock step with the restof his economic peers.Inflation, however, IS forcingmore a nd more wome n to excha ngethe free r hours and greater controlove r th ei r da ily schedule whichcharacter ize the work of a housewifefor th e extra money of a second income .Having the wife go back to workis one maj o r way o f coping withinflation. However. it is a de cisionwhich should n' t be mad e withou tcogniza nce of the costs which willinevitably accompany the decision:- T he re will be less time for cooking and household chores.16

- If th er e ar e child ren, there willbe complications. Is a day-car e ce ntcr reall y worth it? Recent st udiescontradict each other on the qu estion of whe ther da y-car e centersharm the development of chi ld ren .Is the ex tra money wo rt h thecha nce?- There may be scheduling p roblem s, work shifts which a re di fferent. or vaca t io n sc he d u les t ocoord inate.- The re may be ext ra cos ts in theway of a second car or extra cloth eswhich will eat int o the wife's ea rnIngs.If a famil y sti ll decides tha t theyneed a second income. it may bewise to examine the wife' s skills tosee if maybe it wou ldn 't be smar terfor her to go to a loca l college first(see stra tegy one) so that she can geta better job when she does go outlooking.o Wise BorrowingSomewhe re around 1973. whe n innat ion had been around aw hile .peop le ca me to a s tr ange con elu sion : Since one pays back loa nsin depreciated dollars. infla tion favors borrowers over lenders and.therefore, one ought to go into debtas deeply as possibl e.There's on ly on e cat ch : It doesn'twork. O r more precisely, it on lyworks when the inflat ion rate yea rsdown the lin e is eve n mor e ghas tlythan origina lly contemplated. But ifth a t's the case, it may be a Pyrrhicvic to ry to be ab lc to payoff one 'scar loa n with pet ty cash at a timewhen the origi na l price of the carwon't eve n fetch a ja r of peanut butler.Mon eylenders aren 't dumb . T heyarc not in the business of loan ingout va luab le do llars in th e ho pes ofge tting back less val uable do llars.Th ey are in the business to makemoney. T ha t means th at they calcula te the highest reasonable inflationlikely to occur before you pay backyo ur loan and thcn add that on LOthei r regu lar interest rat e.Interest costs arc a form of innat ion , not a ch eap way of beatingit. Th erefore, it makes sense to limitone's bo rrowing as much as possib le. A loan to finance vocationaleducation (strategy one. again) can

yie ld high profi t if it nets a good jo bIt on ly pays to borrow whe n onis going to buy something anywayand its p rice is a lmost certain to gup . Th en it pays to buy "now .Ot herwise. borrowing is only spec ula tin g that inflati on will be evegreater than the mon eylender thinkit wi ll be .e Cos t CullingEconomists a rc fond of poin ting outhat , unl ess there's some hor riblmonopoly a t work , th er e are substitut ions we make for most of thth ings we buy - subs tit utions whiccan sav e money.

Food : Ty pical substitu tions archeese. eggs. or bean s for meaone 's own labor instead of going outo a restaurant. or chea pe r for morex pen sive brand names.Transporta tion: Car poo ls or publie transport ation can cu t ca r cos ts.Medical care: A good diet. exercisc, and prope r da ily ca re of oneteet h ar c cheap substitu tes fo r expensive med ical or dental bills.

The su bst i tu t ion rul e takes thform of a gene ra l question one caask onesel f in most economi c tranac tions: "Can I get the same th inchea per elsewhere? Can I get someth in g else for less money which wido the same job?"o Prioritize Option sEve ry fami ly' s budge t consists ova ryi ng proportions of the samt hi ng s : h o u s i n g . fo od . t ra npo rtation, recrea tion . cloth ing. rnedical , and grooming expenses . Wh erou r own indi viduality comes inthe "mix" or proportion o r oumon ey which we al locate to thesvarious areas. Specifically. we oughto know what we'll give up firwhen the budge t gets tight.One should ask oneself. "Wham I wil ling to give up in orderkeep what I want? Buy a smallhou se so I can keep my car? Ebeans instea d of mea t so I can pathe ren t? Drive a sma ll subcompaso I can run the a ir conditioning? "These are questions which onwe as individuals can answer. Homuch is living in an ai r condi tionehou se worth? Enough to give up(Continued on page 4



19/48

re beautifu l - but SEX? That's notea ut iful. Don 't press it. He'll thinks beautiful soon enough. Thenou'll have a whole new set of probs.In contrast to the deductive reaone rs, some kids don't hesitate tosk abo ut the birds and the bees the

rst time the quest ion occurs toOn e inquisitive seve n yea r oldknow pressed her mother unti l allca rds were on th e table . In repo nse to the wid e-eyed , rat herlarmed . expression on her child'sce, the woman, feeling a little riulous, defended herse lf with " It'sot as crazy as it sounds: '"Do you have a baby every timeu do it?" the little girl inqu iredurther."N o," her mother repli ed."You mean if you don 't get oneou have to keep trying?!"Though she was disturbed by herug h te r' s a t t i t ude , t he yo ungman could think of no answert "Yes."The astounded child pa tted herot her on the shoulde r and whisered, "Boy ! Were you lucky!"As I sa id, sex j ust doesn 't soundppea ling the first time you hearbou t it. It's one of those things tha t

ind of grows on you.ntroducing Sex to Young Childrenn the case of really young childrenages 3 to 5) who ask where theyame from and how they got he re,t's usua lly best to remember not tooverboa rd. A one-line answer isenough, Tots don ' t en joy conentrating for too long on some thingthat , to them, is ent ire ly abstract,

and they will simply tune out you reffo rts at biological explanationsand nomenclature. A brief answer isnot necessarily an evasive one, anymore than the reply, " Fine, than kyou: ' is incomplete as a response tothe greeting. "How are you doing?"More importa nt than an elabo rateanswer is a clear understanding ofthe q uest ion . Listen ca refully toyour child, and make sure you knowwhat 's being asked.A woman I know was a larmedwhen her four-and -a-ha lf-yea r-oldson tramped into the kitchen with abig smile and a qu estion on his lips.

mother froze . Th en, wantin g desperately to do the righ t thing, she tookher little boy by the hand , sa t himdown at the din ing-room table andbega n an A to Z accoun t of his biolog ical origins , pictures included.No t being th e world 's grea tes td raftsm an and a lso bein g less thanan expert on the precise shape andloca tion of the intern al reproductiveorga ns she was try ing to draw, thewell -meaning woman became qu iteabso rbed in what she was doing anddidn't notice that her son was nolon ger sitting next to her. When shedid realize he was gone, it took hertwen ty minutes to find him wherehe had fallen asleep under the dining-room table.

The next time the little boy asked

Making love and conceivingand raising children isnot something one does

for fun at one's ownconvenience.

his mothe r how she and his daddyhad made him, she replied, withoutlooking up from the stew she wasstirring on the stove, "We just lovedeach other so much tha t God gaveus a baby to love some more." Completely satisfied, the litt le boy wentoutside and rod e his trieyl e a roundthe bl ock n in e tim es until hi smo ther ca lled him in fnr d inn er.As I've said before, kids a re hon-est, aod they app reciate honesty inothers. But par t of the skill of communica ting with young chi ldren isrealizing what and how much isbeing asked , saying wha t needs tobe said, and no more.

I have one more. rather sentimen ta l feeling concerning how to impa rtin format ion ahout sex to yo ung childr en . I know this is old fashioned,romantic, and very personal, but Iam sure tha t it is a thought sharedby many. It ho thers me tha t anyex planation of how the male spermferti lizes the fema le egg is likely toha ve a blan k and clinical ring to it.The re' s not much yo u can do abou tit really. Th e facts are the facts, andI

there is some way for the magie andwonder o f sexual intimacy to become visible through the a ttitudeand dem eanor of whoever's doingthe ta lking.

I always admir ed a remark madeby a Sunday schoo l teaeher whosetenth-grade class scoffed a t the concept of th e virgin birth . He repl iedca lmly to his stude nts that as idfrom the fact that a virgin birth hadocc urred only once in the history othe world , to him the conceptioand birth of everyone in the classroom and the entire world was nless ast ou nding, mysterious, andmiraculous.Sex. Love, and the Teen-agerAdoleseence is a who le new balgame. Those in-between years tendto be awkwa rd and painful not onlfor the ga ngling youth him self bua lso fo r everyo ne aro und himAlarming glandular changes tran sform his body, which he begins tbehold as something stra nge ansepara te and someth ing over whiche ha s littl e contro l. And wha t, thtee n-ageT wonde rs, are these feeings towa rd members of the opposite sex? The facts learned a fewyears ago on daddy's knee begin tseem. if not beautiful. inev itable, inten se, and urgent.Whe ther we like it or not , it' sfact that an increasingly high percentage of today' s school kids havhad conside rable sexual experiencby the time they gradua te - experence which in many cases began aearly as jun ior high . I have no statistics to quote in regard to whetheth is early sexua l ac tiv i ty mak epeople happ ier, unh appier, or nether. To be frank, this is a subjecabout which I claim little or no objec tivity, My opinion is very simpleI think sex is for peopl e who armarried to each other.My birth was the result of an accdent or indiscretion during a premarit al affair carried on by mparents. whom I never knew. Wheit came time for me to be born , mmother and father drove to a smaCanadia n town called Moose JawThe re I was del ivered, pu t up foado ption, and raised by a fine manth e Re veren d M r. L ink let t e


20/48

In today 's economy, financialworries are a growing sourceof frustration to mill ions .Money may not be everything,but most of us feel we'd be alo t happier if we had a littlemore of it. This arti cle dis -cusses one way to moveahead on the financial tread-mill: Get a raise.

J oe Fa rmington was worried . " Ido n't know wha t we'r e zo in ato do : ' he confided to his wJeanie . " I f we don 't gel more moneycom in g in. we're !!oing to havemeet ing house payments. OU f car insurance has gonethrough the roof. and I really ca n'tsee how we can a fford any newclot hes for the kids thi s year."For million s of middle-class citizens . such financia l concerns are anin creas ing source of an gu ish . Itseems almost everybody is struggling to ear n more. jus t to keep hisstandard of living on pa r with wh athe had the previou syear. Especially ifyo u have a growing fam ily. stay ingeven with last year's li fe-style canon ly be done by significan tly increasing this yea r's paycheck. It's a game ofsurv iva l of th e fittest , a nd the everpresent wage-price spiral is a n un merciful a ntagonist .To ward off the vo racious wo lf ofinflati on . several stra t eg ies may beeffective: learn to man a ge yo ur fi-nances more wisely. live on less

money. begin putti ng pr inciples ofsuccess int o practice. etc. Such techniques may be tempo ra rily help ful.bu t manv reach a sta ee where th eonly thing th at will s'O lve thei r fi -nan cia l dilemm a is more money.How ca n they ge t it '? Th ey migh tbeg in training for a higher-payingprofession o r pu rsue an ad van ceddegree . But this req uires tim e - andmoney.Ac tua lly. one of the fastest ways(0 bol ste r yo ur earnings - o therthan by robbing a bank or inher iting money from Howard Hu ghes- is to obtain a raise .Going After a RaiseWhat can you do to ge t a raise?Som e have a ttempted eve rythi ngfrom offering sex ua l fa vors to their18

boss to blackmail. making threats.o r initiating a work slowdo wn .These techniques. however. ha ve alow batting average of success in thelong run. and if you attempt someof the se techniques and fa il. it cou ldme an absolute disaster for yo ur career or fut ure.

Whe n you get righ t dow n to it.rai ses a rc won by those who havesize d up th e complete situation andthen handled it with finesse and pat ience. ra ther tha n with gui le or dis-honesty . '

Wh en plot t ing to ge t a raise. toomany think solely of their ne eds.why they must have more mon ey.a nd how thev can se t it. But oftenthe best approach is to climb in toyo ur boss' size twel ve shoes andlook at things from his pe rspective.Ask yourself. "W hy should he wantto aive me a raise? What have Idon'e to further his bu siness or department 's goals '? Am I ac tua lly anasse t to him. or just an expendab leliability?" Then do an objective se lfa na lysis of yo ur per forman c e on thejob .

Financial advancemen t is not somuch hitting th e boss for a sa laryhike at the ....r igh t tim e as it is influenc ing him'" to give you highmarks for performance . Companiespay you for esse nti ally two th ings:th e importance of yo ur jo b and howwe ll you do it. Companies haveva rious systems desig ned to determine when to give yo u a pay boosta nd the app roxima te amount togive yo u. They a re con stantly eva luating yo ur work in wha t cou ld becla ssified as th ree categories: persona l tra its. job skills. and job performance . Make an hon est selfappraisa l in each of the follow ingca tegories and sec if you arc fall ingshort in a ny areas:I. Personal TraitsOne of the first th ings an employe rloo ks for in a n employee is reliab i lity. An unreliabl e employee is aboutas useful to an employe r as a cartha t won't start. An employer wan tssomeone who will be on the jo b daya fte r day. enthus iastica lly churningout commendable work . ra ther thansomeone \I.h o perennially has an excuse why he was absent o r cou ldn'tperform his dut ies. Absenteeismraises hav o c w it h pr oduc ti on .

HOWlOGETARAISEOUTOFYOUR BOSby Jim E. Le a


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22/48

threatens quality. and creates unrestand friction among the other workers. Anyone who thinks he can create havoc for a boss by being ab sentcontinually and still expect a raise isliving in a fantasy land .An other highly prizcd trait is loyalty . It goes hand in hand with reliability. Emp loyers take notice ofloyal employecs: those who can betrusted with company funds . whocan be depended on to get the jobdone proper ly without constant suopervision, and who are responsible.They literall y can't "afford" to losethis kind of employee . and a goodsa la ry a nd ac compa nyi ng payboosts will usua lly follow.

One employee . Mary Kass.though t he r age. expertise. a ndfriendly disposition would make upfor her disloyalty. She was one ofthe best liked clerks in the dry goodsstore where she worked. To enhanceher image with customers. she secretly gave away samples of herstore's merchandise - at the store'sexpense. When the boss discoveredwha t was ha ppening. she begged formercy and got it. but she almost gotfired instead of receiving the wageboost she had coming.Emp loyers love cooperative employees. The re's nothing more irritating than a n emp loyee whostubbornly balk s at every directivefrom his boss. who is regularly' offend ing fellow workers. and who argues disrespectfully with his boss.Th at was Kay Mandel's problem.She had a good job at a ' nut ritionstore. She displayed intelligence andresourcefuln ess. but she a lmos tnever did anything the way her supervisor inst ructed her to. She continually went over her manager'shead to the owner concerning pickyprob lems and ended up angeringboth of them. She tried to pit oneemployee against another by gossiping about them. but it all backfiredon her. She not only didn't get thera ises she could have. but she alsoalienated everyone in the store.You shou ld not only strive to geta long well with your boss and fellowworkers. bu t also with your firm' scustomers. If you neglect this seemingly obvious point . you' re about asusefu l to your boss as an air conditioner that conks out every time itge ts hot ou tside. and you will soon20

Raises are won by thosewho have sized up thecomplete situation

and then handled it withfinesse and patience,rather than withguile or dishonesty.

tind yourse lf stand ing in a longunemployment line. rather than getting a raise.In short. if you are d iligentlypractici ng the Golden Rule on thejob . you should have no troublepl ea sing your boss. yo ur fellowworkers. and yourfirm's customers.II. Job SkillsYou can be the most reliable. loyal.cooperative person alive. but if youdon't possess all the techn ical skillsrequired to perform your jo b properly. you'd beuer do something fast.You certainly can't expect a raisewhen you aren't even performing upto par or you aren't staying abreastof new developments in your field.Jack Dixon thought otherwise. Hewas a budding writer on a growingpublication. He continually turnedin boring . repetitive. poorly researched articles. The few that werepublished were heavily rewritten bythe editors. What do you suppose hedid to better his perfo rmance? Hetook night classes on selling insurance. And to top that off. he askedseveral associa tes why the boss wasso stingy about raises. Instead ofstudying insurance and complainingabout his salary. Jack should haveimmediately begun to develop andca rry out a program to stimu la te hisprofessional growth.Such a program should be basedon a sober and realistic appraisal ofyo ur strengths and weaknesses.When formulating it. you shouldd iscuss with your boss the areas inwhich he feels you need to grow anddevelop.Exhibiting a willingness to learnand a desire to improve your jobskills is the best approach to take toinsure that you get the salary hikesyou need.

III. Job PerformanceProbably the most important thyou can do on yo ur job is beductive. After all. you were hiredproduce . A company. being inbusiness to make a profit . eyes vclosely two aspects of an employperformance record: the qualityqu an tity of the work he produThese two tra its go hand in haOne is often of lillie worth withthe other. What good is a finanreport filled with errors. even ifcompiled in record time?The person whose work is ara te and high-quality will generha ve no problem ea rnin g hisdue and collecting raises.Employers appreciate emplolike Stan Ball who worked at a mufacturi ng company. He was adynamo all day. exuding enthasm and dri ve. Stan was usuallylast to leave. and he was well-onized and met production scheduIn fact his work was so imprestha t he received three raises inthan 12 months on thejob.T he employees who adopt Smon's advice and do whatever thand finds to do with all their m(Eccl, 9: 12) will discover that. evtually. the diligent are alwayswarded .Go See Your BossSupp ose. thou gh. your diligedoesn't pay off as soon as youpect. Then you should considercuss ing the matter with your bThi s is a big step and shouldn'done hastily. Remember. theprobably thinks he is payingenough. and if you rush in mand blurt out that you arc beunjustly treated. he may wanthrow you out the door headfirstbefore you sacri fice yourself onaltar needlessly. evaluate yourIn some cases you might even chwith outside firms who are hipeople in yo ur field to determhow much they are being paidwhether or not you cou ld be hireyou lost your present job.Once you've done this, determwha t you wish to say to yo ur band then confidently go and preyour case to your supervisor.migh t emphasize your finannee ds. You should certainly st

ThePLAIN TRUTH October


23/48

annual sola r festiva l, now in fullswing? How would the church dealwith th is awkward situation wherethe Roman emperor, having recently sanctioned Christianity as thesta te religion. ruled over an essentially non-Chr ist ian empire? It wasone thin g for the Christianized emperor to forego the purely paganDecember festival himself. But toge t the Rom an populace at la rge tocea se observing this solar festivalupon admittance to the chu rch wasanother matter.

The religion of the sun, very popular as reflected by its ever-increasin g numb er of ad here n ts, wasbound to challenge, even threatenthe existence of Christianity. Howwould the Christian church cope?A Remarkable TransformationThe church at first tried to influenceConstantine to abolish this sola r religion with its December 25 festival.Constantine - a born sun worshiperhimself - refused , claiming that thefestival was too popu lar among hisyet unconverted subjects to eradica te outright.F urt he r consul tin g with Co nsta ntine, the church pressured himto pass a law by which all slaves inRome would be given their freedomif they would accept Christianity.This inducement resulted in themasses lining up for baptism intothe Christian religion. It was hopedthat such a measure wou ld preventth ese bapti zed heathen s from observing pagan festivals, particularlythe December 25 festival dedicat edto the solar d ivinity.T he scheme backfired. The heathen element within the church continued to adher e to its own So linvictus rel igion. The masses stilljoined th e heathen element eachDecember 25 in celebrating the festival of the unconquerable sun. Itwas ju st too pop ular.The First ChristmasThe church found itself in a dilemma. It obviously was not willingto give its carte blanche approval toa festival dedicated to a heathendeity. On the other hand , the churchdid not wish to appea r ungra teful toCo nsta ntine for his endorsement ofChristianity as the official religion ofthe emp ire.

With the passing of time, a compromise-was reached. The Romanswere a llowed to continue celebrating th eir Decemb er 25 festiva lm inus th e sola r dei ty. Instea d ,Christ was substituted for the unconquerable sun. It was an a ttemptto tr an sfer th e de votion of th emasses from the heathen sun god tothe tr ue sun of righteousness, Christ.Th e solar winter festival was given aChristian dressing. The Sol invictuswas "deposed" and Christ was now"honored" on that day. Beginningwith A.D . 354, the December 25da te now belonged to Christ alone.Once Rome had accept ed the December da te for Christ's "birth," thefestival quickly sp read to the rest ofthe Rom an Empire. Constantinopleaccep ted the Christmas festival inA.D . 380, par ts of Asia Minor in382, Alexandria, Egypt, around 430,and Jerusalem about 440.The EarlyChurch and Christ's BirthT he earl y Christian church had always been aga inst celebrating th ebirthday of its Savior. Alth oughthe re was speculation as to the time

What's thematterwithChristmas?Su re , Chr is tmas is comme rc ialized. The last-min ute rushca n be hect ic and bo ther

some . But is that the rea l p roblem? Does it matte r that theBible doesn' t sanc tion the observance of Christmas? Or thatmany of the trappings of theday come from non-Christiansources? A free bookl et, ThePlain Truth About Christmas,holds some surprising reve lations . For your f ree copy , write.. ; : : ; : : . ; : : . ~ : ; ; ; i i ~ to The PIainTruth at the

address nea res t you . (Seeaddresse sinside frontcover.)

of the year Jesus was born - especia lly in the third century - the celebra tion was never kept as a churchsanctioned festival for the first 300yea rs.Two basic concepts prevent ed thechu rch from commemorating thebir thday of its founder for so lon g atime. The exact date of Jesus' birthis nowh ere revealed in the Bible andso was probably never known to thechurch. Th e New Tes tamen t nowhere records that Jesus observedhis own birt hday or tha t his disciples observed it.T he second reason why the Christian church refrained from observing Christ's birth was their belieftha t it was wrong. even sin, to do so.In A.D. 245, the church father Origin felt that it was a sin even tothink of keeping Christ's birthday.In pagan Rome, festively commemora ting the day of one's bir thwas an exclusive right reserved forthe gods , although sometimes meremortals took this prerogative uponth emselves. as in the case of some ofthe ear ly Roman empero rs. Sincethe Romans indulged in the keepingof birthdays for whatever deity theyworshiped, the early Christians understandabl y shied away from observing birthdays.But this aver sion in keeping abirthday festival to Jesus lessened asthe centuries rolled by - until circums ta nces in the fourth centuryprevailed upon the church to reluctan tly obser ve Christ's "birthday ."Th e Roman bishop responsible forintroducing the first ever Christmasin Rome was Liberius.The Inevitable CompromiseIt was a lways inevitable that thepopular December 25 festival of thenon-Christian Romans would receive ecclesiastical sanction. He re ishow it developed.Once the New Testament apo

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Plain Truth 1976 (Prelim No 11) Dec_w