I'm a religious man," he said. "I don't believe in a particular God, but even so one can have a faith, something beyond the limits of rationality. Marxism has a large element of built-in faith, although it claims to be a science and not merely an ideology. This is my first visit to the West: until now I have only been able to go to the Soviet Union or Poland or the Baltic States. In your country I see an abundance of material things. It seems to be unlimited. Butthead's a difference between our countries that is also similarity. Both are poor. You see, poverty has different faces. We lack the abundance that you have, and we don'thave the freedom of choice. In your country I detect a kind of poverty, which is that you do not need to fight for your survival. For me the struggle has a religious dimension, and would not want to exchange that for your abundance.

The Dogs of Riga