CHRISTIAN RAKOVSKY

Sooner or later … peace would have to give way to a life-or-death struggle with German imperialism

The first and most important factor is product quality. It is enough to open any number of any newspaper to be convinced that matters here are truly catastrophic. No agitational, administrative, or legal measures can halt this steady deterioration of quality …. we are dealing not with individual defects, but with the systematic production of defective products (brak). The ash content of coal has been rising sharply, in some cases reaching 18 per cent. Only twenty per cent of bricks will support the established load norms. The situation in light industry is even worse, where the textile industry has set a record. According to frequently quoted data, brak among “clean” products (i.e., those that have slipped through quality control) averages fifty per cent for the various [textile] trusts

Our policy in Asia finds its inspiration in the constitution of the Union of Soviets, which we regard as a model of political equality between different races. It even goes so far as to admit the right of nations entering into the Union to leave it of their own free will without securing the consent of other members of the Union. And we do not apply our logic to ourselves alone; we act in the interest of conserving our institutions by applying in our policy in Asia this principle of “self-determination” – an American principle, by the way, transported to Europe by the Frenchmen who took part in the American War of Independence

When the opponent feels our weakness it does not do away with and does not postpone but hastens war

The situation in transport is catastrophic in the most literal sense of the word, as testified to by the accelerating frequency of railway disasters

Our policy in Asia finds its inspiration in the constitution of the Union of Soviets, which we regard as a model of political equality between different races. It even goes so far as to admit the right of nations entering into the Union to leave it of their own free will without securing the consent of other members of the Union. And we do not apply our logic to ourselves alone; we act in the interest of conserving our institutions by applying in our policy in Asia this principle of “self-determination” – an American principle, by the way, transported to Europe by the Frenchmen who took part in the American War of Independence

Sooner or later … peace would have to give way to a life-or-death struggle with German imperialism

The first and most important factor is product quality. It is enough to open any number of any newspaper to be convinced that matters here are truly catastrophic. No agitational, administrative, or legal measures can halt this steady deterioration of quality …. we are dealing not with individual defects, but with the systematic production of defective products (brak). The ash content of coal has been rising sharply, in some cases reaching 18 per cent. Only twenty per cent of bricks will support the established load norms. The situation in light industry is even worse, where the textile industry has set a record. According to frequently quoted data, brak among “clean” products (i.e., those that have slipped through quality control) averages fifty per cent for the various [textile] trusts

The situation in transport is catastrophic in the most literal sense of the word, as testified to by the accelerating frequency of railway disasters

When the opponent feels our weakness it does not do away with and does not postpone but hastens war