Yet the structure of Communism had become so rotten that very little would be required to make it fall in.
但是共产主义的结构已经变得如此腐朽不堪,稍加撼动即会坍塌
Segment 25c Gerontocracy
25段第三部分,老人统治
When Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev assumed power in 1964, the Soviet Union began to lurch into gerontocracy——the rule by very old men.
1964年列昂尼德·伊里奇·勃列日涅夫上任之时,苏联开始进入老人政府,也就是老人的统治
Although Leonid was a fairly young 57 when he took power, the Soviet Union literally aged right along with him.
尽管列昂尼德上任之时才57岁,却和苏联是差不多的年纪了
Production of consumer goods continued and more apartment houses were constructed, but an essential shoddiness continued to creep into everything Soviet.
消费品制造继续,更多的公寓楼也得以建造,但是几乎所有的苏维埃物品中仍旧遍布着赝品
As we saw in the previous segment, the great majority of Soviet people had long since lost faith in Communism
我们在之前已经讲过,苏维埃大多数的民众早就失去了对共产主义的信心
or even the leadership's ability to provide a useful and decent life.
甚至不相信领导人能够为他们提供有用体面的生活
Party meetings would be called, a campaign would be started, slogans would be shouted out... and then nothing.
党会还是会开,运动还是会发起,口号还是会喊出来,但接着什么也不会发生
Nothing, that is, but more doom, despair and agony.
只有更深的毁灭,绝望和痛苦
The Soviet Union's foreign policy during the Brezhnev era also showed a dreary pattern of decline.
勃列日涅夫时期的外交政策也显现出阴郁的衰退