Ideological security work in the face of new demands.
(Baonghean)Along with military security, political security, with political ideology as its foundation, has always been a key component of national security. To ensure ideological security, ideological work needs to be persuasive and have a wide-ranging impact throughout society.
In practice, over the past years, the Party's ideological work has not been truly sharp, and its use of this weapon has been very weak, resulting in low effectiveness and failing to create the strength to resist and attack on the ideological front. The work of educating and training ideological and political stances to raise political level has not been done well, from the lack of regular organization, formality, and superficiality, to the outdated, dogmatic, and imposed methods of transmission, which are very different from the nature of ideological work, which should be persuasive. Faced with this situation, over the past years, the Party has issued a series of directives and resolutions related to political and ideological education for cadres and Party members, but compliance at all levels has generally been lax. Laziness in studying political theory is quite common. Worse still, some people study incompletely "but still meet the standardization criteria." This also represents a decline, weakening the fighting capacity in the field of ideological security.
Police in Quỳ Châu district distribute leaflets promoting drug prevention to local residents. Photo: Lê Hoàn
Currently, we are in the process of transitioning to a multi-sectoral, market-based economy, influenced by many factors. Many viewpoints and value standards are changing, and the morals and lifestyles of a significant number of cadres and Party members are deteriorating. They prioritize personal gain over collective interests, focusing heavily on material wealth while neglecting moral and spiritual values, prioritizing immediate goals over long-term ones. Therefore, the pioneering spirit, exemplary conduct, and self-sacrifice for the common good among cadres and Party members are declining, individualism is on the rise, and bureaucracy, corruption, and the "culture of lobbying" that undermines democracy within the Party and State apparatus still persist. All of these things are contrary to the nature of our regime; they are "internal enemies" that obscure the essence, corrupt the Party and State apparatus, and create fertile ground for the growth of deviant ideologies, easily infecting those hostile to the regime and the ideals of our Party. Consequently, we cannot harness the strength of the entire people, which is the most fundamental force and the strongest bulwark in the overall defense of national security, and ideological security in particular.
In this context, the "peaceful evolution" plot of hostile forces is becoming increasingly complex, and the threat to ideological and political security is growing. Issues such as "religious freedom," ethnic equality, and human rights are being used by hostile forces to attack us. They seek every means to support or develop religious forces and incite religious opposition against the Party and government, causing social and political instability.
Therefore, ensuring ideological security requires unity of will and action among the entire Party, the entire people, and the entire army, based on the Party's ideology, political platform, and guidelines. And for this unity to be firm, there must be a core ideology that everyone in the Party understands and follows. Persistently and creatively adhering to Marxism-Leninism, and strictly and consistently following Ho Chi Minh Thought, are fundamental prerequisites for current ideological security work.
Ideological education must be dynamic, combating formalism, dogmatism, imposition, and simplistic teaching. It must be a persistent, patient, meticulous, and specific approach to ensure that the Party's ideology deeply permeates the masses, raising the moral and ideological qualities of the entire population, transforming into material strength, and creating the most solid wall in the ideological security sphere. The effectiveness of the Party's ideological work depends greatly on Party building, because the people consider whether the words and actions of cadres and Party members are consistent as a measure of the Party's propaganda and education work.
Therefore, Party building in accordance with the spirit of Resolution No. 4 of the 11th Central Committee is extremely important for ideological security. Good results will create a healthy environment, unleashing the strength of the entire people and society. It will prevent the breeding ground and infiltration of hostile and reactionary ideologies. Besides comprehensive measures to prevent them, the most important thing is to create the conditions and strength to resist and proactively attack. Hostile forces undermining us is "a daily occurrence"; what matters is our strength, and more importantly, we must not weaken ourselves, we must not engage in "peaceful evolution," and we must not overthrow ourselves. That is the core issue of our ideological security work in the current situation.
Thai Khac Thu (Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee's Propaganda Department)
