their households and outbuildings. On the day of the resettlement, the chairman of the collective farm and other leaders arrived from the centre, and a solemn meeting was held in the courtyard of the new buildings. At the rally, the manager Pashat Barakatov made a fiery speech. He said that such a thing as the construction of beautiful seven-story residential buildings in five months, and not in the year allotted for this, is only possible under the conditions of developed socialism, and that the working people of capitalist countries are not only deprived of such a prospect, but also are simply unable to dream up anything like it. He casually mixed the dignity of capitalism with dust and ashes. Blaming America, the flagship of the capitalist world, for all mortal sins, and exposing Reagan, the president of America, as a kind of scarecrow and laughingstock. At this time, an old man standing in the front row said to him: “Hey, Pashat, my friend, you’re getting quite prideful, you just said you’re building two buildings in the vast steppe, right? If that’s it, why do you need to bother the distant America, wouldn’t it be better to start talking about the affairs of your own village?” Pashat immediately lost his temper, giving vent to the heap of anger: “Who said that? Aksakal Meldesh, is that you? What, you didn’t like my criticism of American imperialism? By twisting our words, maliciously, instead of being an example for young people, you demonstrate your extremist character every time. If you like America so much that you care about it, go there. We will not hold back malicious people for a minute. Or was the criticism that you received last time not enough?” The people made a noise and turned towards the old fidget. And a lot of eyes burning with anger aimed for spoiling such a solemn event, and for trying to protect the distant America, which was the main enemy of the Socialism branch. There was a lot of truth in the words of Pashat, “Or was the criticism that you received to last time was not enough for you.” Eight months earlier, Elder Meldesh bought two barrels of beer in the city on his pension, he brought it and distributed it free of charge to people near the collective farm club. A lot of people gathered near the club for free