The Foreign Service Journal, May 2023

30 MAY 2023 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL briefing on inflation, GDP, unemployment, and how the U.S. economy worked because most in the group had no background in economics. Not surprisingly, most of the questions visitors asked weren’t directly related to the exhibit but were more gener- ally about life in America. Most Soviets knew from their press about unemployment and the fact that many in the U.S. had limited access to health care, and that college education was “horribly expensive.” But they had no context and, of course, were missing critical facts. So we tried to provide that context and those facts. I think we gained the most credibility by telling our own stories. We told visitors howmuch each of us was being paid (much more than the average Soviet!), how unemployment benefits and health insurance worked, and how we had paid, if at all, for our college education. These were often complicated stories: You’d tell them about the different costs between private and state uni- versities, for example, and then you’d tell them how you (and your parents) paid for it—in my case a combination of scholar- ships, loans, and jobs. It was a long explanation, but crowds of as many as 50 persons would stand there fascinated by the discussion. Then, if they were really interested, they could go to a different guide and hear their story and compare. And the guides’ approaches were often very different. For instance, we would be asked about the war in Vietnam. One guide might say he opposed the war completely and had demonstrated against it in the States; another would say he supported the war as a battle against communism. Soviets had a hard time believing that an American hired by the U.S. government could flatly state that he opposed the war and had fought against it. I recall that not long after we arrived in Zaporozhye in September 1975, there was an accident at the city hall where scaffolding had come tumbling down, and a couple of people had been killed. We only knew about this because our Russian friends and contacts told us. The next day in the paper there was no mention of the accident, but there was mention of a train accident somewhere in the United States where 8 people had been injured (but no one was killed). When Soviet visitors would argue that the Soviet media always told the truth, and never shied away from covering a story, that was the case I would mention. People, and not only in Zaporozhye, would nod their heads know- ingly and move on. Over the years I worked with exhibits (1975-1981), my reading of Soviet newspapers and periodi- cals led me to the conclusion that Soviet propaganda got more sophisticated in reporting on the trials and tribula- tions of life in America. In 1975 the tale was pretty simple: unemployed Americans with no income, sick Americans with no health care, high school students unable to go to wildly expensive colleges and universities. Over time the stories had to get more sophisticated; they had to mention unemployment benefits, health insurance and free health care, scholarships and loans for poorer students. Ironically, although the wealth of American society came through, to many Soviets, American life seemed too insecure and too complicated. It was not uncommon for a matronly visitor to listen to our stories and then walk away with the comment, “ U nas luchshe [We’ve got it better]!” What was most memorable about the experience was that so many Soviets saw the exhibits as a meaningful moment in their lives, much as I am sure Americans did in the late 19th century when the circus came to town. It was a part of your life you would never forget. In many cities visitors would come to the exhibits with the brochure and exhibit lapel pin they had gotten years earlier at a previous exhibit. We guides joked among ourselves about being “rock stars,” because on the exhibit stand we would command audiences of enormous size. In addition, it afforded us direct access to everyday Russians and their thinking, something I could not get enough of later in postings as a diplomat to Moscow. It was not uncommon for amatronly visitor to listen to our stories and then walk away with the comment, “ U nas luchshe [We’ve got it better]!” Tom Robertson suited up to help out on Photography USA, while serving as deputy director for the exhibit. ROBERTFENTONHOUSER