Moral Code of the Builder of Communism

The Moral Code of the Builder of Communism was a set of twelve rules. It was made in the Soviet Union by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Every member of the Party was supposed to follow these rules. So was every member of the Komsomol (a Communist group for young people ages 14-28).

History

The Moral Code was written at the 22nd Congress of the CPSU in 1961. It was part of the third CPSU Program, which was a plan for how to make the entire Soviet Union communist as part of the new Party Programme.

Some popular Soviet cliches are written in the Code. In fact, the Code was written to include special phrases, either invented by Soviet thinkers, or borrowed. (For example, the famous quote "'One for all, and all for one" was taken from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas, père.)

The Moral Code

The Moral Code of the Builder of Communism (as reported on Wikisource), with simple English explanations below, is:

1. Devotion to the cause of Communism, love of the socialist Motherland and of the socialist countries.

• Communism should be very important to you. You should love your country, and all socialist countries.

2. Conscientious labor for the good of society: he who does not work, neither shall he eat.

• You should work hard for the good of society - so everyone, not just you, can benefit. A person who does not work will not eat.

3. Concern on the part of everyone for the preservation and growth of public property.

• Everyone should do their best to protect public property (property which is owned by everyone) and to make it grow.

4. High sense of public duty; intolerance of actions harmful to the public interest.

• Doing what is best for everyone should be very important to you. You should never do or support anything that is not good for everyone.

5. Collectivism and comradely mutual assistance: one for all and all for one.

• People should not just care about themselves. Everyone should care about everyone else. Everyone should help each other. Every person supports society, and society supports every person.

6. Humane relations and mutual respect between individuals: man is to man a friend, a comrade, and a brother.

• People should respect each other and be good to each other. Every man is a friend, comrade, and brother to every other man.

7. Honesty and truthfulness, moral purity, unpretentiousness and modesty in social and private life.

• You should always be honest, do the right things, and be humble.

8. Mutual respect in the family, concern for the upbringing of children.

• All family members should respect each other. Raising children should be important to everyone.

9. Irreconcilability towards injustice, parasitism, dishonesty, careerism, and profiteering.

• You should never accept things that are not fair; people who do not do their fair share; people who are not honest; or people who try to get ahead and make money just for themselves.

10. Friendship and brotherhood among all peoples of the USSR, intolerance of national and racial hatred.

• All people in the USSR should treat each other like friends and brothers. You should never treat someone badly because of the country they are from or because of their race.

11. Intolerance towards the enemies of communism, peace, and freedom of nations.

• Our goals are to have communism and peace, and for every country to be free. Enemies of these things, who would try to stop us from reaching our goals, cannot be accepted.

12. Fraternal solidarity with the working people of all countries, and with all peoples.

• All working people are like brothers, and must stick together.

Comparisons to religion

These rules may be compared to the Ten Commandments or the Bible. For example, the Bible says: "he who does not work, neither shall he eat" (2 Thessalonians 3:10). This line was used in the Soviet Constitution of 1936 as well as the Moral Code. Another example is the Commandment "you shall not commit adultery." This is similar to the Code's rule about "mutual respect in a family, concern about the upbringing of children."

The Ten Commandments focus more on personal virtue - what a person should do, and how to treat other people. The Code talks about how people should act as members of the society they live in.

A Russian legislator and Communist Party leader, Gennady Zyuganov, said the moral code could be compared to the Sermon on the Mount.