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Yet the structure of Communism had become so rotten that very little would be required to make it fall in.
但是共產主義的結構已經變得如此腐朽不堪，稍加撼動即會坍塌
Segment 25c Gerontocracy
25段第三部分，老人統治
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·勃列日涅夫上任之時，蘇聯開始進入老人政府，也就是老人的統治
Although Leonid was a fairly young 57 when he took power, the Soviet Union literally aged right along with him.
盡管列昂尼德上任之時才57歲，卻和蘇聯是差不多的年紀了
Production of consumer goods continued and more apartment houses were constructed, but an essential shoddiness continued to creep into everything Soviet.
消費品制造繼續，更多的公寓樓也得以建造，但是幾乎所有的蘇維埃物品中仍舊遍布著贗品
As we saw in the previous segment, the great majority of Soviet people had long since lost faith in Communism
我們在之前已經講過，蘇維埃大多數的民眾早就失去了對共產主義的信心
or even the leadership's ability to provide a useful and decent life.
甚至不相信領導人能夠為他們提供有用體面的生活
Party meetings would be called, a campaign would be started, slogans would be shouted out... and then nothing.
黨會還是會開，運動還是會發起，口號還是會喊出來，但接著什么也不會發生
Nothing, that is, but more doom, despair and agony.
只有更深的毀滅，絕望和痛苦
The Soviet Union's foreign policy during the Brezhnev era also showed a dreary pattern of decline.
勃列日涅夫時期的外交政策也顯現出陰郁的衰退
