Moral Code of the Builder of Communism (russian: Моральный кодекс строителя коммунизма) was a set of twelve codified moral rules in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

which every member of the

Communist Party of the USSR "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

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 Third Program. The very first moral principle was "Devotion to the cause of

communism Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

". Its twelve rules may be superficially compared to the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

, 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 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King ...

). 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 Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

loosely corresponds to "Mutual respect in a family, concern about the upbringing of children" of the Code. Another notable distinction is that the Moral Code speaks in terms of the relation of a person to the society, rather than in terms of personal

virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...

s. For example, the ''"Do not steal"'' may be loosely matched to ''"Concern of everyone about the preservation and multiplication of the common wealth"''. Russian legislator and Communist Party leader

Gennady Zyuganov Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov (russian: Генна́дий Андре́евич Зюга́нов; born 26 June 1944) is a Russian politician, who has been the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and served as M ...

compared the moral code of the builder of communism to the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount (anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is ...

Twelve rules of the Builder of Communism

Here are the commandments which were written as a part of the Third Party Programme: # Loyalty to Communism, and love of the socialist Motherland and other socialist countries. # Conscious work for the good of the society: One who doesn't work, doesn't get to eat. # Care for the collective property, as well as the multiplying of this property. # High consciousness of the social responsibilities, and intolerance to the violation of the social interests. # Collectivism and comradery: All for one and one for all. # Humane relationships between human beings: One human being is a friend, a comrade and a brother to another human being. # Honesty, ethical cleanliness, as well as simplicity and modesty both in private and public life. # Mutual respect in the family, and care for the upbringing of the children. # Intolerance to the injustice, social

parasitism Parasitism is a Symbiosis, close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the Host (biology), host, causing it some harm, and is Adaptation, adapted structurally to this way of lif ...

, unfairness,

career The career is an individual's metaphorical "journey" through learning, work and other aspects of life. There are a number of ways to define career and the term is used in a variety of ways. Definitions The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' defin ...

ism, and acquisitiveness. # Friendship and brotherhood with all the nations of the USSR, intolerance to all racial and national dislike. # Intolerance to the enemies of communism, peace and freedom of peoples of the world. # Brotherly solidarity to all workers of all countries and nations.

References

{{Communist Party of the Soviet Union Documents of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Soviet culture Codes of conduct 1961 documents

Twelve rules of the Builder of Communism

See also

References