My Friends, since I have last written a great many calamities have befallen our nation. The promise of collectivization which promised so much has been struck with a run of such poor luck as has not been seen in this country since the era following the collapse of the Qing. These are evil days. A few years ago, the Party, headed by Chairman Mao, began pushing for the rapid and total collectivization of the Agricultural sector and for the revolution of techniques vital to raising the output of our farms and our industry. I am no longer of an age where I can easily go out into the countryside to see for myself the progress being made in these endeavors, but I have asked my son to go in my stead; the things he has told me I do not find heartening. I must preface my following statements by saying that I know that collectivization is successful in other parts of the country, I have seen for myself the success of the new methods and measures. I have seen the trucks bring grain in from the country, place it into the large silos before moving it to trains bound for the Soviet Union or beyond. My son, however, has told me that the villages he has visited are racked with famine and drought or else flooding, and everywhere the stench of starvation and disease. He told me of an Incident where he happened upon a pack of creatures, he at first believed to be wild dogs scrounging in the ditch on the side of the road, upon further investigation he found them to be children, collecting the grasses and wildflowers they could. When he spoke to them, they told him they came from an orphanage in the nearby village and that they had snuck out to find something to supplement the small grain ration they were allotted. In another village, he encountered a family which was so desperate that when he shared a loaf of bread, he had been carrying for the road they attempted to offer him one of their children in compensation. The family had been on the road for some weeks following the total collapse of their harvest, trying to reach the place where the trucks had taken their food but were now too weak to continue. I am an old man. I remember such times when people placed great stock in the Mandate of Heaven. That certain regions of this country have failed so drastically in meeting the projections and promises of the collectivization that has seemed so successful across the board, perhaps there is some truth to the old superstitions. Perhaps those local leaders that have clearly so poorly implemented the practices and policies of the Party have brought down the wrath of the heavens on the regions under their control. If this country is ever going to have the universal growth in wealth that has been shown to be possible, then we must ensure that the lowest levels of the government are loyal to the revolution and to the will of the people. We must apply more pressure on them to better emulate the Chairman and his confidants in being a guiding light, a beacon around which the people can rally rather than stealing grain and terrorizing the people.
Comrades, I expect we shall hear in the future of atrocities being committed by the cadres in the countryside which have lost sight of the revolution, but we must not allow these naysayers and traitors to the revolution dissuade us from our ultimate goals. Be well, I shall write more when I have the time.