Lifestyles that erode trust

In an interview with the press on the occasion of the Spring of the Year of the Pig 2019, after reviewing the country's outstanding achievements and results in the past year and outlining what needs to be done in the coming year, when talking about the exemplary role of officials at all levels, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong expressed his concern and also warned: "Those "officials" who say one thing and do another, calling on others to save while they themselves are extravagant, wasteful, spending their assets, state funds, people's tax money, gambling, partying excessively... not only fail to set an example, but also damage the Party's reputation and the people's trust."

Deprived of leadership because of privileges and benefits

This is not the first time the head of our Party has mentioned this issue.

Seven years ago, in his speech at the National Cadre Conference to disseminate and implement the Central Resolution 4 “Some urgent issues on Party building today” held in February 2012 in Hanoi, General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong at that time raised the question: “Tomorrow, whose party will this party be? Will it maintain its nature as a revolutionary party of the working class, of the working people, of the nation?”. Before asking this poignant question, the General Secretary raised the question: “Nowadays, within the Party, there is also a rich-poor divide, there are people who get rich very quickly, their lives are far from the working people; will the rich think like the poor?”.

Actually, answering the above question is not too difficult. Because among those who have become rich in an unusual way, there are quite a few officials holding important positions in the government apparatus at all levels. That wealth is not mainly due to their talent, intelligence, sweat, and effort, but mostly due to taking advantage of their working positions to cultivate personal interests, finding every loophole in the mechanism and policies, pulling in their cronies to follow "group interests" to do business in an improper and shady manner with the purpose of personal glory and family enrichment.

It seems that the unusual wealth and luxurious life of some officials do not affect the people around them and the community, but the truth has left many consequences for themselves and society. It is the luxurious life, isolated from the hard work of the majority of people that makes corrupt officials despised by the Party and hated by the people.

The most notable consequence they caused was the disruption of social ethical standards, making people skeptical and divided, eroding people's trust in the Party and the regime, and causing the Party's class, popular, and national character to gradually be hollowed out from within and shaken from the roots.

Remember when the Soviet Union was on the verge of total collapse, there was a sociological survey data by a scholar that was very thought-provoking. In response to the question "Who does the Communist Party of the Soviet Union represent?", 85% of opinions said it represented the bureaucratic state officials, while 11% said it represented the working class and working people(1).

A ruling communist party whose officials are so bureaucratic and so far from the masses, when it encounters "storms" and is not supported by the people and stripped of its leadership by other forces, is not surprising.

This lesson was reiterated by General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in his speech in February 2012 as another warning: "The collapse of the Soviet Union was due to many reasons, but one very fundamental reason was because the Communist Party at that time had degraded and degenerated due to bureaucracy, corruption, privileges and special interests"!

Enjoy life while people struggle to make a living

Every person holding a leadership and management position, no matter how big or small, is the subject of "the superiors' eyes and the people's eyes". Therefore, their every gesture, action, and behavior can hardly escape the eyes and ears of millions of people everywhere.

An official who has several villas, several "golden plots of land", several farms; or goes to this luxury restaurant today, another luxury hotel tomorrow, while his wife and children work little, or even do not work, but every day only use branded goods, drive luxury cars, spend money like water... then even the most honest and simple citizen has the right to suspect that their "wealth" is actually due to corruption and dishonest business.

No one wants cadres to live in difficult and arduous conditions. Because cadres are people with basic training, have qualifications, intelligence, and understanding better than the people, are trusted, elected, and appointed to leadership and management positions by the people, the Party, and the State, so they have the right to enjoy material and spiritual benefits commensurate with their assigned positions and powers. Cadres have a stable and prosperous life, that is the common desire of the people and also the aspiration of the country.

"Officials" say one thing and do another, damaging the Party's reputation.

Those "officials" who say one thing and do another, calling on others to save while they themselves are extravagant, wasteful, spending money on state assets, public funds, people's tax money, gambling, partying excessively... not only fail to set an example, but also damage the Party's reputation and lose the people's trust.

President Ho Chi Minh and warnings about 'revolutionary mandarins'

Uncle Ho's warning to feudal-minded officials, "revolutionary mandarins", still holds true today.

But that prosperity must mainly be due to the intelligence, talent, merit, achievements and level of dedication of cadres and civil servants through the mechanism and policies of the Party and State and through legitimate and legal income to be pleasing to the people and in accordance with morality. On the contrary, if cadres and civil servants become rich in an unusual way, it shows that they have also shown "abnormal" signs of moral qualities and character, which, frankly speaking, are on the path of degeneration and corruption.

“Tomorrow, whose party will this party belong to?” If the party only belongs to a few rich people, lives separately from the people, does not share the people’s joys and sorrows, does not stand shoulder to shoulder with the people, does not imbue and realize the noble ideal goal of “loyally representing the interests of the working class, the working people and the nation”, then the Party will stand above and outside the interests of the people and the risk of the Party being rotten from within and then collapsing is difficult to avoid.

On the contrary, if the Party belongs to the vast majority of the working people, lives close to the people, is closely attached to the people, knows how to share the joys and sorrows, shares the hardships, joins hands and hearts with the people at all times and in all places, and makes it possible for every family and every person to access and enjoy a prosperous, peaceful and happy life, then the Party has fulfilled its noble duty and mission. From then on, the people's hearts and minds with the Party will forever be faithfully and firmly attached.

Aiming for a rich and happy life is the dream and noble aspiration of everyone. While the majority of working people still have to save and economize in their daily lives, many poor families have to struggle to earn a living very hard, struggling to find every penny, every bowl of rice for their children to have food and clothes to go to school, a group of officials, due to corruption, enjoy a lavish and lavish life, which is both contrary to the character of a true communist and inconsistent with the tradition of thrift of our ancestors.

Never forget the teachings of our ancestors: The people push the boat, the people also capsize it. It is the people who make history and decide the success or failure of the revolutionary cause. Therefore, living simply, moderately, honestly, promoting kindness and loyalty, being close and sincere to the people, sharing in their hard-working lives is not only a requirement for the moral qualities of cadres and party members; but also contributes to making the image of cadres and party members spread and shine in the hearts of the people.

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(1)- According to Ngo Minh Giang: "Recognizing the degradation of political ideology, ethics and lifestyle" (Electronic Party Building Magazine, September 6, 2012, "Forum" section)

Thien Van