It’s certainly true that mistakes in work and management exaggerated the impacts of natural disaster.

If you’ve lived in the countryside, you must understand that a natural disaster cannot drag on for four years.

again, similar to the 1930s soviet famine

It was just the 1933–34 season—a single season. Yes, there were miscalculations at the local level as well; much depended on the collective farm chairman and how he handled the problems. One collective farm might get by just fine in '33, while right next door, people in another were dying of starvation. People began fleeing the starving farms for the ones that weren't starving—and that, too, became a problem. The issue wasn't systemic, but rather structural or localized. Under such harsh conditions, many leaders simply couldn't cope with their responsibilities.

I had two grandmothers—my own flesh and blood—with whom I spoke back then. One grandmother was from the Kyiv region; they didn't go hungry in '33 because they owned a cow. My other grandmother was from the Kursk region—the area where the Ukrainians recently advanced. People did go hungry there, but it wasn't a mortal famine. Both of my grandfathers perished in the summer of 1941. After the war, my father arrived in the city barefoot because he had no shoes. He got a job at a factory as a rigger. Decades later, he was wearing a suit and tie, putting on a fresh shirt every day; he held a PhD... and served as the factory's Chief Engineer.

When I spoke to you about raising a generation of young people—that is the kind of generation we need to raise: a generation like my father's.

Ultimately, however, Perestroika began; science became something nobody needed anymore, and my father found himself out of work. As it turned out, he didn't know how to trade.

My point is this: in exchange for the fact that my ancestors went hungry on the collective farms in the 1930s, their children—the children of destitute and starving peasants—lived the high life for the rest of their days... right up until Perestroika. It was a generous recompense for their suffering and starvation. None of it was in vain!

The outcome of the famines is a positive rather than a negative one—namely, that new reforms and shake-ups are once again needed in their wake.

But alright, have it your way: Mao... tried... to do something similar.