But you know yourself: senseless rabble
Changeable, rebellious, superstitious, An easily empty hope betrayed
Obedient to instant suggestion, To the truth is deaf and indifferent, And she feeds on fables.
A. S. Pushkin "Boris Godunov"
Nothing happens in the world if people do not know about it. There is no information, and there is no event either. For an event to take place, you need to either talk about it, or write, or show it. However, after the event has become the property of public consciousness, human memory over time consigns it to oblivion. Of course, you can go to the library or "google" it on the Internet, but does everyone do it, because intellect and public consciousness are completely different things.
It is clear that a modern person who does not have a professional education very quickly forgets everything that is not included in the circle of his usual affairs. But what about historical knowledge? It is believed that it is it that makes a person a citizen. But can a man with a mess in his head be a real citizen? Probably not. On the other hand, it is difficult to expect a baker to remember the years of the reign of Ivan Kalita and could say for sure that he spent a third of his life in Moscow, a third on the road, and a third in the Horde. But on the other hand, he should know something all the same, right? And what is the degree of historical awareness that allows him to be considered a citizen? Surprisingly, this indicator is most likely impossible to calculate! After all, it will be different for everyone. Someone will know nothing, but at the first demand they will go and accept death "for their friends and their land." And someone will know everything, including the fact that "the genesis of the problem is God, is differentiated as irrational", but … will immediately choose "a barrel of jam and a basket of cookies." However, you must admit that it is still important to identify the level of awareness of the citizens of your city about some event that quite recently, by historical standards, affected the whole of our country.
We decided to find out this in relation to the city of Penza by referring to the topic of the Cuban Missile Crisis. An important event? Undoubtedly! They talked and talk about him on TV, and write in various media. So there is information about those decisive days in school and university textbooks, people who remember this are still alive, they also mention this event of the recent past quite often. That is, if someone did not know about this, then, having heard, he could ask. Another reason is that, although this event is important, it took place a long time ago and does not affect anyone personally today. It was and it was!
So we asked students of the specialty "public relations and advertising", studying at the law faculty of Penza State University, to interview the residents of the city of Penza and ask them just one question: "What do you know or remember about the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962?" Our students are responsible and know their business. Moreover, such polls are very interesting to them, since in the future they will be their bread: you need to be able to organize them, conduct them and, accordingly, process the results. In total, 180 residents of all ages were interviewed. Of course, for a city with a population of 500 thousand people, this sample (quota by sex and age), due to its small size, is not entirely representative. A sample of 500 people should be considered representative. However, it allows you to find out the general picture quite accurately. So (M - man, F - woman):
1. Zh., 47 years old: - I don't know anything.
2. M., 47 years old: - 1962. Kennedy and Khrushchev are the main participants in the Cuban missile crisis. Kennedy began rolling out a ballistic nuclear missile program. In response, Khrushchev deployed our missiles in Cuba, having previously established friendly relations with it. This created a tense situation, in fact, the world was under the threat of the outbreak of a nuclear war. As a result, by the method of mutual concessions, the diplomats resolved this problem, but the missiles remained in Cuba. Khrushchev banged his boot on the podium and said that "we showed them Kuzka's mother."
3. M., 21 years old: - I know everything about the Cuban missile crisis. In 1962, it began imperceptibly. During the Cold War, the United States very recklessly deployed its nuclear ballistic missiles in a European country. The USSR made a "knight's move" and brought its missiles to Cuba. Because Cuba is next to America, the latter declared the USSR an aggressor. Then everything began to develop, they began to install their warheads one by one. The whole world froze in anticipation of a nuclear war."
4. J., 20 years old: - The Cuban crisis was in 1962. The United States deployed its nuclear warheads in Turkey, in response to which the USSR, under the pretext of helping the socialist revolution in Cuba, installed nuclear warheads on Liberty Island.
5. M., 79 years old: - It was in 62. Our government has deployed missiles with nuclear warheads…. There is still no clarity, this is still a secret matter, but we did not have such missiles that would reach America. And here Cuba is close by. For America, this was a real threat during the Cold War. And an American reconnaissance plane filmed everything and found missiles. Panic began in America, President Kennedy took action - he gave the command to blockade the island. The matter is for war. NS. Khrushchev called Kennedy, and they agreed, although the world was on the brink of war, and the troops were already on full alert. We exchanged Cuba for Turkey. We agreed on this. Carried away.
6. J., 24 years old: - I don't remember anything. But I can google it if I need to.
7. J., 20 years old: - Oh, well, the Americans attacked poor Cuba, in which there was a revolution. Cuba won, but the Americans didn't like it.
8. M., 40 years old: - The crisis between the USA and the USSR during the Cold War.
9. M., 18 years old: - I probably overslept the story about this in the history lesson.
10. M., 19 years old: - I only know that they wanted to detonate an atomic bomb there.
11. M., 23 years old: - I don't know anything.
12. M., 48 years old: - A terrible crisis, we have deployed missiles in Cuba, the United States is about … hysterical, they started hysterical and they asked the USSR to withdraw the missiles, even the Americans began to build bomb shelters.
13. M., 55 years old: - I don't know anything about him.
14. M., 38 years old: - Yes, I know, this is when Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev almost fell out with the United States. In response to something (which I don't remember), Cuba decided to deploy our missiles with nuclear warheads. They were taken in secret, but the Americans were ready to attack and deliver 1 blow, but thanks to endurance, they did not fight. And in general there are a lot of details, but I don't remember very well….
15. M., 80 years old: - Nothing.
16. Zh., 22 years old: - Oh … Nikita beat the table with an evil boot: "I'll show you Kuzka's mother !!!" He shouted!
As you can see, the results are pretty curious. It cannot be said that only young people know nothing about the Cuban missile crisis. Among the people of the older generation, there are also many of them, and this is simply amazing. Where were they at that time? Or is this already the last stage of sclerosis? Men are better informed about the crisis than women, but this is just not surprising, because for them "politics" has always been interesting. However, it is obvious that the awareness of many of our citizens is rather strange. Many events in their heads were mixed up - "horses, people mixed up in a heap." And some people quite obviously feed on fables testifying to the domination of the philistine worldview in their midst and to the limit of the mythologized consciousness. Moreover, it is not clear where these myths came from. Let's say we know that Pravda first denied the presence of our missiles in Cuba, and then even admitted the presence of Il-28 bombers, but such trifles are not important in this case. It is important to distort many events and superimpose one event on another. Such mythologemes are very difficult to correct and they are also the basis of historical nihilism. “I know how it was, but they tell me not so! So the historians are all lying!"
As a result, we can conclude: if we want people not to forget about such events, we really need such magazines as Voprosy istorii, History in detail, Rodina, etc. Moreover, they must be in every school library and in every library in general, and those, in turn, must have pages on the Internet and support in social networks, from where modern youth draws 70% of information. Of course, a site like MILITARY REVIEW is of paramount importance in this case. Although the main thing, of course, is that people not only read, but also that they later have at least something in their heads!
