For the Good of the Cause Read Online Free PDF

tired of darkness and gloom
We’ll put TV in every room
With diodes, triodes, and tetrodes, too
We’ll make bigger and better tubes for you!
    “Without even looking I can tell that it’s one of the third-year classes.”
    “They’re good, aren’t they? I’d like to get a look at them. Can we see them from the window?”
    “Come over here. Marianna Kazimirovna, could you just move your chair a little?”

    “… Don’t you believe it! The latest fashion is the ‘barrel’ line. Haven’t you seen it? It’s fitted in the waist, then it widens, then it narrows again, and then tapers down to mid-calf…”
    “… I know another lake a little further away. You ought to see the carp I’ve caught there!”

    “Lidia, watch where you’re going. There are people sitting here.”
    “Here we are, Anatoli Germanovich. Just lean out. See that bunch of boys and girls?”
In airplanes, sputniks, and everywhere
Our vacuum tubes have found their place
Here on earth and up in space
Electronics sets the pace!
    “They sure are enthusiastic. You can see they really mean it.”
    “They’re so proud of that song: ‘The Electronics Anthem.’ They wrote it themselves and they do it so well. They even won the second prize in a local contest. Look! Only the girls are singing. The boys just stood there like this in the contest too, but they do come in on the chorus at the top of their voices.”
    “I’ll tell you why I’m watching them like this. You see, I’m rather nervous because I’m used to teaching grownups. I once gave a lecture—‘The Progress of Science and Technology’—at my son’s school, and I couldn’t get them to pay attention I nearly died of embarrassment. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get them to pay attention. The principal pounded the table, but not even he could make them listen. My son told me afterward that they locked the cloakroom and nobody was allowed to go home. He said they often do that when there are visiting delegations or special events. So, to get even, the kids just keep talking.”
    “But you can’t compare that with a technical school. Things are quite different here. We don’t have any of those types with more money than brains who are just passing their time. And the principal here has greater powers because of scholarships and dormitory places… Though actually we’ve never had a dormitory in our seven years and they have to get private accommodations.”
    “Does the school pay for them?”
    “The school gives them thirty rubles each—that’s the standard rate and it’s supposed to be enough. But a bed costs a hundred rubles a month—a hundred and fifty for something a little better. So some of them rent one bed for two. And they live like that for years. Of course they’re fed up… You seemed a bit skeptical about our enthusiasm. There’s nothing to be skeptical about. We are just tired of living badly. We want to live well! Isn’t that why people did voluntary work on Sundays in Lenin’s time?”
    “True.”
    “Well, that’s what we’ve been doing… There they are. Look out the window.”
… bigger and better tubes for you!
    “How far is it from here into town?”
    “About half a mile.”
    “But they still have to walk that half a mile. And a lot of them have to do it twice a day each way. And although it’s summer and we haven’t had any rain for three days, we’re still knee-deep in mud. We just can’t ever dress up. We have to wear boots all the time. Long after the streets in town are nice and dry we still get absolutely filthy.”
… up in space
    “So we had a meeting and talked things over: How much longer were we supposed to go on suffering? You should see the miserable little holes where we have classes. And there’s no room for social activities. I think that’s what bothers the students most of all.”
… sets the pace!
    “Lidia Georgievna! Ma’am!”
    “Here I am!”
    “We must see you. Can you spare a moment?”
    “I’ll be