- Moral Code of the Builder of Communism
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Moral Code of the Builder of Communism was a set of twelve codified moral rules in the Soviet Union which every member of the Communist Party of the USSR and every Komsomol member were supposed to follow.
The Moral Code was adopted at the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1961, as part of the new Party Programme.
The very first moral principle was "Devotion to the cause of communism".
Its twelve rules may be superficially compared to the Ten Commandments, but they overlap only marginally (although in Russian-speaking books and media one may sometimes see the claims about foundations in the Bible, referring to, e.g., "he who does not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10); also used in the 1936 Soviet Constitution). Unlike the Ten Commandments, however, the rules of the Code were not concrete rules of conduct; they were stated as the rules of attitude. For example, "You shall not commit adultery" of Moses loosely corresponds to "Mutual respect in a family, concern about the upbringing of children" of the Code.
Another notable distinction is that Moral Code speaks in terms of the relation of a person to the society, rather than in terms of personal virtues. For example, the "Do not steal" may be loosely matched to "Concern of everyone about the preservation and multiplication of the common wealth".
Four of the rules, making up one-third of the Code, are of a political character.
The Code contained a number of popular Soviet clichés; in fact it was intentionally formulated to contain catch phrases, either invented by Soviet ideologists, or borrowed. (An example of the latter one is 'One for all, and all for one' ("каждый за всех, все за одного") which was borrowed from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père.)
The Moral Code of the Builder of Communism (as reported on Wikisource):
1. Devotion to the cause of Communism, love of the socialist Motherland and of the socialist countries.
2. Conscientious labor for the good of society: he who does not work, neither shall he eat.
3. Concern on the part of everyone for the preservation and growth of public property.
4. High sense of public duty; intolerance of actions harmful to the public interest.
5. Collectivism and comradely mutual assistance: one for all and all for one.
6. Humane relations and mutual respect between individuals: man is to man a friend, a comrade, and a brother.
7. Honesty and truthfulness, moral purity, unpretentiousness and modesty in social and private life.
8. Mutual respect in the family, concern for the upbringing of children.
9. Irreconcilability towards injustice, parasitism, dishonesty, careerism, and profiteering.
10. Friendship and brotherhood among all peoples of the USSR, intolerance of national and racial hatred.
11. Intolerance towards the enemies of communism, peace, and freedom of nations.
12. Fraternal solidarity with the working people of all countries, and with all peoples.
Categories:- Documents of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
- Soviet culture
- Codes of conduct
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