vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #166 / Opinion / Reading article...

The most unpleasant comment I hear from foreigners about us Russian students is that we have no civic pride. Hearing that we don’t have good equipment at the universities or enough financing is nothing in comparison to this. They say we are more interested in ourselves than in our country.

I’ve tried my best to find arguments against this criticism, and I cannot. We care more about getting through university for free, or keeping good relations with university, city, and krai authorities, than speaking the truth. And in fact, the ones who have money and power seem to own the truth. We just get certain portions of it, only what they let us know.

“If you are satisfied with the situation as it is now, it is not likely to change,” foreigners say. We are not satisfied! But we don’t believe we can change anything. This feeling of patient obedience was deep inside us for 70 years, and it is still strong. We are still obedient sheep; only the wolves have changed.

I must confess I’m no better than any other Russian student. I comfort myself with the feeling that someone will come along and change everything.

But it doesn’t work like that. I know — we all know — that the future depends on us young people. If, instead of making changes, we accept the situation and try to profit from it, in 20 years we will be as corrupt as most of our “authorities.” Most older people have lost their hope. If we lose ours, there won’t be much chance for our Mother Russia.