The Conquerors

Elena Kononenko, a member of the Soviet Writers' Union, had asked dozens of Russian youngsters the same innocent-sounding question: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The answers were disturbing. Last week, in her book, We and Our Children, Russian readers were finding out that their kids want to be great and famous--and hardly any are dreaming of the workaday glories that lie ahead in mills, mines and on collective farms.

When one group of students aged 14 to 16 were asked what they would like to do, the majority gave answers like this: "Want to be a strato-navigator"; "Want to conquer the Arctic"; "Would like to build a special radio station to contact Mars . . . want to fly there."

Asked Soviet Author Kononenko: "Why can't the collective farmer or ordinary worker become a hero? That's what should be impressed more often."

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