Letters

COMRADES IN TROUBLE

"When we had not yet recovered from the Tequila Effect and the Saki Effect, we became the victims of the Vodka Effect." RAUL H. ALVAREZ Buenos Aires, Argentina

Russians should fasten their seat belts and get ready for the worst [RUSSIA IN CRISIS, Sept. 7]. The country, like most developing countries, failed to get off on the right foot. Any sudden change brings difficulties. It is easy to embrace something new, especially when it looks as attractive as capitalism does. Western society, particularly the U.S.'s, fueled this metamorphosis, forgetting that changing a system is one thing and changing the mentality of a people who have lived in the system for ages is almost an impossibility. Acting Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin reassured Russia--and probably the West--that there would be "no return to the past." Sadly, there can be no return, and, worse still, the future is not just uncertain; it is also certainly scary. TAMMY EYOLE-MONONO Mannheim, Germany

Why doesn't the U.S. make a generous offer to buy Russia's nuclear arsenal? If accepted, the U.S. would gain an additional measure of national security, and Russia would get an infusion of needed cash. If refused, the U.S. would benefit in world opinion from being seen as taking a stronger moral position if it declined to give further financial aid to Russia. ROBERT S. HANFORD Rochester, N.Y.

The only reporters asking questions about Monica Lewinsky at the summit news conference were American. With everything that is going on in Russia, those reporters--not the President--looked like idiots. And because American reporters asked the President the Monica question, they could go home and report how his personal problems are hurting him abroad. It is the American media that should be put on trial. LARRY T. MALINOWSKI Warren, Mich.

At the Moscow news conference, the questions reporters addressed to President Clinton about the Lewinsky matter were significant because they demonstrated the degree of freedom of speech and the press that Americans have. I hope the members of the communist bloc will be inspired to include among their proposals for reforms freedom of speech and the press. They are the only way to build and guarantee freedom. The U.S. should provide food, clothing and medical supplies to the poor and needy in Russia while the country is getting back on its feet. Monetary aid to foreign countries too often winds up in the coffers of the oppressors, the heartless and the greedy in government. If liberty is to flourish and the people are to prosper, those of goodwill in a society must have a chance to survive and elevate themselves. RON ZEH Binghamton, N.Y.

How ironic that it took the collapse of Russia's corrupt style of laissez-faire capitalism to bring about the ultimate results of Marxism. Russia has finally achieved a classless and cashless society. A marginal economic existence for the masses has created one homogenized class of poor people, and the worthlessness of the ruble has virtually eliminated it as Russia's medium of exchange. Karl Marx's utopian vision has now been realized, but it is no Shangri-La. Instead, it is a nightmarish world of anarchy. JONATHAN SPIVAK North York, Ont.

In the cover picture, both of Clinton's hands are visible, but Yeltsin's left hand is not. Where is it? I'll bet it's in Clinton's pocket--again. JON TAYLOR Jacksonville, Fla.