Preserving the 'roots' of communism

“Just as a river must have a source to have water, without a source the river will dry up. A tree must have roots, without roots the tree will wither. A revolutionary must have revolutionary ethics, without revolutionary ethics no matter how talented he is, he cannot lead the people.”

Today, in the context where money seems to have omnipotent power, a segment of the population emphasizes personal values ​​with material desires and a hedonistic lifestyle rising, training revolutionary ethics is indeed not easy. How should cadres and party members train revolutionary ethics?

Nghe An Newspaper had a conversation with comrade Nguyen Anh Lien - former member of the Central Inspection Committee, a man of 90 years of age, 65 years of Party membership, but 80 years of which he devoted to revolutionary activities.

President Ho Chi Minh - a shining example of revolutionary morality.

- Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien, what are the thoughts and perceptions of revolutionary ethics of the generation of party members who grew up during the war?

Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien:For the generation of party members who grew up in the flames of war like us, we all had the mindset and awareness of revolutionary ethics, which was to be ready to overcome all hardships, even sacrifice our lives, to fight the enemy, save the country, and save our compatriots. We understood the role and significance of revolutionary ethics for cadres and party members at that time. It was the top decisive factor to defeat the enemy because to defeat the enemy, we not only needed troops, weapons, tanks, etc., but first of all, the decisive factor was the people's hearts.

The people believed in the Party, followed the Party for a long resistance not based on orders and papers but on the revolutionary ethics of the cadres, party members, and soldiers who were beside the people, living and dying with the enemy day and night. Therefore, all of us cadres and party members at that time, especially those operating in enemy-controlled areas, determined: If we did not cultivate and practice revolutionary ethics and qualities, we could not live a day, or even an hour. Because if we lost the people's trust, we would lose our place of refuge, our protection, our nurturing, our shelter. If we lost the people's protection, we would definitely not be able to escape the bloody hands of the enemy.

Let me tell you a story about myself to show how sacred the people's trust in the Party is through the revolutionary ethics of cadres and party members. In 1972, when the US dropped B52 bombs on Hanoi, although my wife survived, my first daughter was no longer alive. At that time, I was in the enemy-controlled area, working secretly to direct the Armed Youth Team of Zone 5 to coordinate with local forces to fight and destroy the villains. When I heard the news of my daughter's death, it was the 8th year I had been in the South and during that time I had not had a chance to go to the North to visit my family. At that time, my wish was to go home to visit my wife and children. But I thought about the ethics of cadres, party members, and soldiers of Uncle Ho's army, so I suppressed that wish. Because at that time the battlefield needed me, the people needed me, I had to swallow my tears to stay and fight side by side with my comrades, with the people. At that time, if Party officials take action to escape, people will not know what will happen, which will have a big impact.

Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien - Former Member of the Central Inspection Commission.

- Revolutionary ethics plays such an important role, so how have you personally trained and cultivated revolutionary ethics?

Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien:As I said above, if we want to defeat the enemy, we must make the people's hearts reach the heart of the Party, that is, the Party's will must be closely linked to the people's hearts. To do so, we must live in a certain way, work and fight in a certain way, and have a certain attitude and style towards our compatriots, teammates, comrades, the elderly, women and children so that in the eyes of the people, they believe that we are real cadres, real Party members, and real children of the people. If we do something that makes the people suspicious, it will be impossible to protect ourselves in wartime.

I would also like to tell another story. In preparation for the strategic offensive in 1972, I was sent by the Zone 5 Party Committee to conduct a military exercise in North Khanh Hoa - South Phu Yen to build an armed youth volunteer team, operating deep in enemy territory in the middle of Ninh Hoa town. After several months of operation, most of the secret locations in the house, in the garden, on the riverbank were discovered by the enemy, so I was taken by a family to take shelter in a floating bunker. It was said to be a floating bunker, but in reality it was the bedroom of an 18-year-old female student. I stayed here safely for two months.

Later, many people did not understand why the grandparents, parents, and siblings of this female student dared to let me - a cadre - stay in her house, in her room for so long. Were they not afraid that I would commit acts of sexual misconduct against this girl? Both the family and the female student answered in a very normal way: Because they believed that Uncle Ho's soldiers would never commit immoral acts! From that story, I saw that it was the morality and qualities of cadres and party members that determined the success or failure of the resistance war.

- Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien, what do you think about the training and practice of revolutionary ethics of today's generation of party members?

Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien:Nowadays, the temptations of material things, money, fame, position and the traps of reactionary and traitorous elements, of "internal invaders" for cadres and party members are countless. In my opinion, there have been many drastic measures and strategies to prevent them, especially since the 12th Party Congress, especially the 13th Party Congress.

In reality, no one is without desire, even greed. But the thing is, if we know how to control and restrain ourselves, it will be limited. No one is without desire, even the desire in life increases, but the conditions cannot keep up. So do not blame people for being greedy, only blame them for not knowing how to control and restrain themselves.

- So in today's context, how should party members cultivate and practice revolutionary ethics, sir?

Comrade Nguyen Anh Lien:I think there is no better, more successful, more practically effective secret than our sincere determination to study and follow the ideology, morality, and style of Uncle Ho and of the heroic martyrs who heroically sacrificed for the people and the country. In my opinion, in wartime or peacetime, the training and cultivation of revolutionary morality must only be built on one foundation, which is self-reflection, self-training, self-criticism, and criticism as Uncle Ho taught.

The secret to success is always the same, that is to always keep your heart warm, the heart of a communist, the heart of Uncle Ho's descendants, the heart of those who continue the career that our ancestors left behind. When you can always keep that heart warm, do not let it cool down, then all the thorns, dangers, temptations, and traps can be overcome. Because if you keep your heart warm like that, your mind will be more diligent, your mind will be brighter, your person will be cleaner, from there you can wash away bad habits, get rid of greed, selfishness, self-interest at the expense of the people and the country.

- Sincerely thank you for sharing comrade Nguyen Anh Lien!