They portend the unleashing of bitter forces that even a totalitarian regime as adept at regimenting its people as the Soviet state cannot always control. Nor is it certain that control is what the leaders in the Kremlin desire. Now. the Soviet leaders have explained that the exorbitant emigration taxes. amounting to thousands of dollars. are in reality a tax on education incurred by the student as a consequence of his statesupported studies. The more audacious Soviet spokesmen have gone so far as to compare these taxes to the obligation incurred by the graduates of our military academies who undertake to spend a specified period of time following graduation in the armed services. In principle there is nothing wrong with the making of an agreement between student and institution of learningor. for that matter. between the student and the statein which the student undertakes certain obligations in return for his tuition. But that is not what is involved in the Soviet case and it is a lie to suggest otherwise. For one thing the emigration taxes have been retroactively imposed on all citizens. They do not arise out of any agreement or understanding or voluntary obligation. For another. the Soviet student is denied recourse to private educational institutions so that even if the obligations were placed on a voluntary basis. which they are not. there would be no way to avoid them. One would be forced either to accept the states terms or go without any education. Moreover. the taxes imposed on emigration. unlike agreements sometimes made in Western countries to serve after graduation in a prearranged capacity. are prohibitive and intended to be so. Soviet citizens are simply not permitted to earn or amass the sums necessary to purchase their freedom. To attempt to borrow the huge amounts involved opens one to persecution for economic crimes. and no one earns the sort of income that would enable him to pay the visa tax for an advanced education without borrowing. So the funds cannot be generated internally. The fact is.
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emigration visa