Up close and personal

Up close and personal

Admittedly, it’s a tired cliche, used by sports television to “flag” personality features on athletes (as opposed to, perhaps, distant and impersonal personality features?).

But the phrase took on real meaning in Rappahannock last week, as a group of 10 Soviet visitors spent five days in the county. It was an opportunity for county residents to meet their superpower adversaries face to face, rather than through the reports of foreign correspondents and propaganda of official government spokesmen.

Although the hosts and other volunteers involved with the visit have not gathered for their informal debriefing, the consensus among those who participated seems to be that it was a beneficial experience. That reaction appeared typical of the Soviet visitors as well.

There were no earthshaking conclusions reached as a result of the visit, no solutions to the global problems which plague our societies. The spectre of nuclear annihilation still looms as menacingly above Rappahannock as it did before the Soviet delegation arrived last Wednesday.

But the visit symbolized the energizing effect of personality — the human factor in international relations. What was formerly an inhuman Communist menace — “the evil empire” — now has faces. They laugh, they tell jokes (yes, even on themselves), they sing and dance, they like to watch television in their spare time, and they have children who aspire to be musicians and scientists.

They are, in short, not much different from us.

That’s not to say that there were no disagreements. The Soviets had trouble understanding some of our opinions, and some elements of their society still seem incomprehensible to us. There’s still a long way to go before we can comfortably meet the Soviet Union as a partner rather than as an adversary.

But, if the statements of the visitors and the news reports of reforms instituted since Mikhail Gorbachev took office as General Secretary are to be believed, the Soviet Union has begun a fundamental shift of philosophy which just might end with cooperation rather than confrontation with the United States.

Yes, there’s a long way to go before that dawn. But, as more than one person — on both sides — remarked during discussions last week, “There is no alternative.” The spectre of nuclear war seems to horrify them as much as it does us.

And, for people with children who aspire to dreams of greatness, there truly is no alternative.

And, as long as we’re talking — even if we disagree — we’re not fighting. Last week’s visit was a start, perhaps a small one, but even the greatest dreams start as tiny seeds within the minds of visionaries. They grow to fruition only with the help of others of like minds, even those who disagree on other matters.

Perhaps, if enough seeds can be planted in enough minds on both sides of the ideological gulf which separates us, some day even this most improbable dream will bear fruit.

DAR members hear talk

on ‘Women in Service’