Molding the New man - Soviet Patriotism and Proletarian Internationalism
Patriotism, i.e., love for one’s country, must be considered from the historical aspect. It changes together with a change in the class nature of society. The labouring classes, which have always been champions of their country’s interests and independence, display real patriotism. Loss of independence spells oppression not only by local but also by foreign exploiters and this, naturally, is something to which the people cannot reconcile themselves. The patriotism of the working masses merges with hatred for the exploiting classes. One of the salient features of the working people’s patriotism in a society with antagonistic classes is their desire to get rid of exploiters and acquire their own motherland.
As regards the exploiting classes, the bourgeoisie in particular, they are quite willing to make a display of patriotic slogans but theirs is mostly a sham patriotism. They utilise patriotic slogans in order to divert the working people from the class struggle and, speculating on their patriotic feelings, make them accomplices in their predatory practices. When matters boil down to profits, Lenin wrote, “the bourgeoisie will sell their country and strike a bargain with any foreigner against their own people”. [313•*
The Soviet Union’s time-honoured patriotic traditions were shaped in the course of many centuries of struggle against foreign enslavers. Soviet socialist patriotism, which has inherited the best patriotic traditions of the past, enriches these traditions with the gains of the revolution and of socialism. The revolution and socialism have given the working people a genuinely free motherland, and in Soviet patriotism, therefore, devotion to the motherland organically merges with fidelity to the Soviet socialist system.
An important feature of Soviet patriotism is that national pride, i..e, devotion to one’s national culture, traditions and language, intertwines with devotion and loyalty to the multinational state—the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Naturally, Russia with her vast expanses and numerous physical features of great beauty and charm is closer to the heart of the Russian, as Georgia, cradle of one of the most ancient civilisations, with her mountains, swift rivers and warm sea is to the Georgian, and the boundless steppes of the Ukraine to the Ukrainian, and so on. But the Soviet motherland with her bright present and still brighter future is dearest and closest to the heart of the Russian, the Georgian, the Ukrainian or any other individual from the scores of other nationalities inhabiting the U.S.S.R. That is what made them rise as one man to fight back the invasion of 14 imperialist powers and the internal reaction during the Civil War, build mammoth projects during the years of the early five-year plans of economic development and heroically fight the nazi hordes during the Second World War.
This brings us to yet another important feature of Soviet patriotism, namely, its intrinsic bond with proletarian internationalism. National and racial prejudices, bourgeois nationalism and dominant-nation chauvinism are alien to Soviet patriotism. It combines devotion to the motherland with devotion to all socialist countries, with respect for other peoples, big and small, with a sense of fraternal class solidarity with the working people of other countries. “In fostering the Soviet people’s love of their country,” states the Programme of the C.P.S.U., “the Party maintains that with the emergence of the world socialist system the patriotism of the members of socialist society is expressed in devotion and loyalty to their own country and to the entire community of socialist countries. Socialist patriotism and socialist internationalism necessarily imply proletarian solidarity with the working class and all working people of all countries.”
The unity of Soviet patriotism and proletarian internationalism lies in the fact that they serve the single purpose of combating capitalism and establishing the new, communist societij in the world. The building of communism in the U.S.S.R. is the supreme patriotic and internationalist 315duty of Soviet people because successful communist construction in one country or another is a tangible contribution towards the world-wide struggle for the triumph of communism. This makes the strengthening of international unity of the working people of the socialist countries a vital task.
This unity is all the more essential in view of the fact that serious divergences, expressed in the activation of nationalist and chauvinist sentiments in some Communist Parties, have come to light in the world communist movement and the socialist system.
Soviet patriotism and internationalism are awakened by day-to-day education and self-education, in struggle against cosmopolitanism (indifference to the motherland, to its history, traditions and national culture), and nationalism (the preaching of national exclusiveness, the fostering of scorn and hate for other peoples).
Nationalism has neither economic nor class roots in socialist society, but some of its manifestations have survived. This is mirrored in the embellishment and idealisation of the past of one nation or another, in the slurring over of social antagonisms in world history, in the placing of local interests above the interests of the state, in trends towards national conceit and exclusiveness and in outworn manners and customs.
These hang-overs of the past are gradually overcome and each member of society becomes profoundly conscious of his internationalist duty in the process of communist construction, through the further blossoming and drawing together of nations, the expansion of economic, political and cultural intercourse between them, joint labour for the benefit of the socialist motherland, the influence of socialist reality and the educational activities of the Party and the government.
Devotion to the motherland is kindled in the heart of each person when he knows his country’s history and culture, the traditions of his people and their labour and military feats. To inculcate patriotism means to inculcate a sense of duty to one’s country, the desire to make one’s utmost contribution in order to strengthen one’s country’s economic and military might. It means inculcating the 316consciousness that socialism is superior to capitalism, the confidence that there are unbounded potentialities in the new system.
The threat that imperialist reaction may start another world war has brought military-patriotic education into the limelight. Soviet people are brought up in a spirit of attachment to the Armed Forces, in a spirit of respect for the soldier, who guards their peaceful work and the great gains of socialism against encroachment by enemies and is prepared to sacrifice his life for his motherland and the other socialist countries. The people’s agelong struggle against invaders has given the Soviet Union rich military-patriotic traditions, which communist education safeguards and fosters.
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Survivals of Capitalism and Ways and Means of Surmounting Them
The principles of communist morality have become firmly established in the life of most Soviet people as a result of the triumph of socialism and the extensive educational work conducted by the Communist Party. However, survivals of capitalism still exist in the minds of a section of the people—idlers who avoid socially useful work, moneygrubbers, egoists, bureaucrats who ignore social interests and hold their own interests above all else, embezzlers and other criminals, and violators of labour discipline.
The existence of anti-social views and actions is usually explained by the fact that socialism emerges from capitalism, which carries over its traditions and customs into the new society; inasmuch as consciousness usually lags behind life, old traditions and customs naturally rule the minds and actions of people of the new society for a long time. Reference is also made to the impact of bourgeois ideology, which energetically seeks to influence the minds of Soviet people and revive bourgeois customs and prejudices and inject philistine, utilitarian views of life, and the standards prevailing in the bourgeois world.
This is, of course, quite correct. But one cannot accept the view that the influence of bourgeois ideology is responsible for amoral phenomena in society. Explanations of this sort willynilly disarm people in the struggle against anti-social phenomena. Therefore, when we analyse antisocial views and actions we must thoroughly study all the
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reasons for their existence, for this is the only way we can find effective means of surmounting them.
There is no doubt that along with survivals of capitalist mentality, there are, as the author G. Medinsky so truly noted, “our own survivals”, whose roots lie in the certain immaturity of socialist economy, in distortions and violations of the laws of social development, in shortcomings in the organisation of people’s work, recreation and daily life, and so forth. Does not, for instance, a relaxation of control over the measure of labour and consumption lead to misdemeanour or even crime? Sometimes the fault lies with shortcomings in the education of the rising generation, particularly in the family and at school. One still comes across cases when violations of Soviet laws and moral standards are not condemned by the broad public. Without such condemnation it is impossible to combat backward views and behaviour successfully.
Survivals of capitalism seriously hinder communist construction. Individuals infected by these survivals impede the normal work and recreation of Soviet people, infringe upon public property and the property of individual citizens, bring discord into family life, and so on. Besides, survivals of the past are tenacious. They do not die of themselves and prevail over the minds of people for a long time after the disappearance of the social factors engendering them. That explains why the Communist Party regards the struggle against survivals of the past, manifestations of bourgeois morals and survivals of the proprietorship mentality as part and parcel of communist education.
A resolution adopted by the 23rd Congress of the C.P.S.U. states: “A consistent struggle must be waged against indifference to politics, survivals of the proprietorship mentality, philistine sentiments and nihilistic attitudes to the ideals and gains of socialism.”
Compulsion is sometimes necessary, especially in the case of persistent breakers or violators of law and order, but measures of compulsion alone do not solve the problem. Here the main thing is to analyse what causes the various negative phenomena, to eliminate these causes and conduct purposeful and systematic educational work. Creative work, active participation of all citizens in the building of communism, persevering study and the steadfast promotion 318 of the general educational and cultural level are the decisive means for surmounting survivals of the past.
To a large extent success in surmounting these survivals depends on Party, Komsomol and trade union organisations and on every Soviet citizen individually. Public opinion, criticism and self-criticism and the condemnation of anti-social behaviour gradually become the principal means for uprooting bourgeois views, morals and manners.
Human relations are extremely complex and diversified. Although in socialist society these are mainly relations of unity, this unity does not rule out contradictions. Relations between people sometimes take a dramatic and even tragic turn and are caused by quite tangible factors: material difficulties, love and hate, indifference and crassness, personal grief, trouble and, sometimes, even the consciousness of one’s own failings. Communist education therefore takes the complexity of human relations and the diversity of human characters and destinies into account, relentlessly uproots all that has become obsolete and prevents man from improving, developing and moving forward, that prevents people from working creatively and showing initiative, fighting for truth and justice, combating dishonesty and evil, and finding the goodness in man and the way to his heart.
Notes
[313•*] Lenin, Collected Works, Vol. 28, p. 27.
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