Documents / FOIA release
This Central Intelligence Agency transcription is dated 27 September 1991 and marked approved for release in May 2000. It is part 2 of an 8-part translation of a Sovetskaya Rossiya interview in which Abalkin criticizes the "500 Days" economic program. He argues for preserving the Union state and warns that the Russian republic's plan would dissolve the USSR. In passing, he likens the program's "mystery effect" to the mass belief in aliens, UFOs and extrasensory perception that arises in times of crisis.
“Cooper”1 page
Read from the scan by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word.
## UNCLAS 3M/FAX BEGINS A MASS BELIEF IN ALIENS, UFO, EXTRASENSORY PERCEPTION, AND MUCH ELSE. THIS IS A SOCIAL PHENOMENON, YOU KNOW. I SPOKE OF THIS MANY YEARS AGO. THIS SITUATION BEGAN TO BE MANIFESTED CLEARLY IN THE LATE SEVENTIES AND EARLY EIGHTIES. WAY BACK THEN I USED TO APPEAR AND SAY HOW SOCIAL COLLISIONS GIVE RISE TO SUCH A BELIEF. AND SO THE "500 DAYS" PROGRAM ALSO CONTAINED A KIND OF MYSTERY EFFECT. NO ONE HAD YET SEEN IT, BUT THE IDEA OF ITS MIRACLE-WORKING PROPERTIES WAS BEING PURPOSEFULLY AND SYSTEMATICALLY INCULCATED IN THE MASS CONSCIOUSNESS. BUT WHEN THE PROGRAM IS PLACED ON THE TABLE, WHEN EVERYONE CAN READ IT, PERCEIVE SOME CONTRADICTIONS AND SHORTCOMINGS, OR, AT ANY RATE, TAKE A CONSCIOUS AND CRITICAL APPROACH TO ITS CALCULATIONS AND AUTHENTICITY, THE MYSTERY EFFECT VANISHES. BUT THE TIME WHICH ELAPSES BEFORE THE DECISION IS ADOPTED IS DESTRUCTIVE. AND SO PEOPLE WANT TO ADOPT THE PROGRAM AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, WITHOUT PROFESSIONAL INVESTIGATION AND ANALYSIS, ON TRUST ALONE. "LET'S BELIEVE . SUCH NAMES ARE THERE, SUCH HUMANE AIMS ARE PROCLAIMED. LET'S ADOPT IT, AND THEN WE CAN SEE. WE WILL AMEND IT, FINISH IT OFF, CORRECT IT, ELABORATE IT. WHY BOTHER WITH TRIFLES NOW?..." ((GARIFULLINA)) AND, AT THE SAME TIME, BEGIN INTRODUCING THIS PROGRAM SUPER-PROMPTLY, AS EARLY AS 1 OCTOBER?... ((ABALKIN)) THERE IS ANOTHER NUANCE HERE. YES, TIME IS ALTOGETHER GETTING SHORT. THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAM IS ALSO SHORT OF TIME, AND WE MUST NOT DELAY FOR LONG. OCTOBER 1 MARKS THE START OF THE FOURTH QUARTER -- WE TOO EMPHASIZE THIS IN OUR PROGRAMS. ONLY THERE THIS DATE IS A ZERO OPTION -- THERE HAS BEEN NO HISTORY, AND NOTHING AT ALL HAS HAPPENED BEFORE 1 OCTOBER. AND YET THERE IS HISTORY. THE REFORM IS ALREADY UNDER WAY. THE LAWS ON OWNERSHIP, LAND, AND LEASING HAVE ALREADY BEEN ADOPTED, THE TAX SYSTEM HAS BEEN ADOPTED, AND THE LAW ON THE POPULATION'S INCOME TAX HAS BEEN IN EFFECT SINCE 1 JULY. ((GARIFULLINA)) WAS ALL THIS THE PREPARATION? ((ABALKIN)) YES, THE PREPARATION, BUT ALSO THE INTRODUCTION OF THE REFORM. THE RESOLUTION ON JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES WAS ADOPTED SO AS NOT TO WAIT FOR ANY FURTHER LEGISLATIVE ACTS. THE FIRST COMPANIES HAVE ALREADY BEEN REGISTERED. COMMERCIAL BANKS, WHICH ARE THE SECOND LEVEL OF THE BANKING SYSTEM -- THERE ARE ALREADY APPROXIMATELY 300 OF THEM -- ARE PREPARING THE GROUND. THE FIRST TRADE EXCHANGES HAVE ALREADY BEEN SET UP AND ARE BEGINNING TO FUNCTION. LIFE IS ON THE MOVE THE COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IS DEVELOPING TOO. (MORE) 23 SEP 27/1034Z SEP BT #3981 NNNN NNN
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FOIA release, from the cia-readingroom collection. The PDF is mirrored here; the original link is above. The text was read from the page images by GLM-OCR; expect the odd misread word. 2 pages are in the text index: search them above, or from the library's search.