The clash between the aspirations of the people for a better life and the insistence of their rulers on building a powerful state, regardless of human sacrifice, runs through the whole of Russian history

It is this struggle that has caused one Russian ruler after another to put guns before butter, to build steel mills instead of fine new apartment houses, to invest in physics laboratories rather than swimming pools, to dig new canals instead of building public parks, to manufacture heavy tanks rather than sports cars.

No one can be certain where a nation which spans two continents, whose history begins in the faint traces of early civilization, a nation now struggling to find a new and valid philosophy of existence, will be propelled by the transcendental forces of the nuclear age.

Why can't a state that launches cosmonauts into space provide enough eggs and milk for its city children during the winter months?

We made a revolution in 1917 to make things better, not worse. Since then we have sacrificed one generation after another. We have known nothing but hardship. Now we want to live.