p With bourgeois culture degrading and gripped bydeep crisis, there is only one way for the further progress of culture the socialist way. Cultural development in the USSR and other socialist countries has shown that socialism criticallv assi- 182 milates and revives all the best elements of the preceding cultures.

p More, socialism systematically and purposefully creates a totally new culture. This is chiefly made possible by the cultural revolution, which is a common feature in the development of all nations building socialism and communism. Lenin saw cultural revolution as a qualitative change in the intellectual life of society which is brought about by socialist change in the economic and political system and which, at the same time, exerts a strong reverse influence on this change, aiming ultimately to make the people the real subject and creator of culture.

p The existing socialism has enriched history with the experience of intellectual emancipation of the workers. The Soviet Union rid itself of the scourge of illiteracy in the space of one generation. The workers are creators and consumers of culture. The new, socialist, intelligentsia, which comes from the working class and peasantry, has outstanding achievements to its credit in science, technology, and the arts.

p In 1982, 80 per cent of workers in industry and 65.5 per cent of collective farmers had a secondary or a higher education. Today, secondary education is compulsory in the Soviet Union. Instruction in both higher and secondary specialised schools is free of charge; students receive grants.

p Soviet society today is 100 per cent literate. Over three quarters of those working in the national economy have a higher or secondary education. A total of over five million people are engaged in one form of education or another. An extensive network of cultural and educational institutions has been developed, the output of books, newspapers, and magazines is growing continuously.

p Socialism offers vast possibilities for advancing science and has placed it at the service of the entire people. The number of people engaged in all fields of research has reached 1,300,000. The Soviet Union is in the forefront in the study of social development, in the natural sciences, and engineering. The Soviet Constitution, which is the epitome of all that has been reached during the sixty years of Soviet government, ensures equal rights to all citizens, irrespective of their origin, nationality, place of residence, etc., including the right to education, to equal access to all achievements of the material and intellectual culture, and guarantees freedom of and necessary conditions for partaking in all forms of culture. The state works to preserve and multiply intellectual values and promotes their extensive use for raising the people’s cultural level.

p Under socialism, the creation of a new culture implies the creation of new forms of public and home life, labour and social relations.

p It also implies people’s conscious and active assimilation of the standards of civilised behaviour. Such behaviour should be marked by consideration and self-control, on the one hand, and, on the other, a deliberate observance of the standards and rules of community life that complies with the interests of the community and hence ol the individual himself, and not the interests of this individual alone. Hence the collectivist character of such behaviour.

p Soviet culture is socialist in content, multifarious in national form, and internationalist in spirit and character. It has blended the diverse cultural values created by all Soviet peoples. Its inherent features are the popular character, communist partisanship, proletarian internationalism, socialist patriotism, historical optimism, revolutionary humanism, collectivism, communist ideas, and rejection of bourgeois ideology and the survivals of the past in people’s minds and conduct.

p The level and condition of the intellectual culture of mature socialism arc shown by the newfeatures manifested in all its spheres politics, ideology, morality, aesthetics, science, education, labour. The political culture of a mature socialist society is characterised by a high level of legal consciousness, Soviet patriotism, and internationalism. The ideological culture of mature socialism is distinguished by the primacy of the 185 materialist world outlook. Socialist morality is characterised by the Soviet people’s sense of commitment and conscientious attitude to public duty. The essential feature of aesthetic culture is the harmonious all-round development of the individual, i. e. refined aesthetic taste and aesthetic attitude towards work and life. In a mature socialist society labour, home Hie, and personal relationships rise to a higher cultural level. Culture has become an important factor in the socioeconomic and intellectual progress of Soviet society.

p In evaluating the role of the national and international in intellectual culture, historical materialism proceeds from the following principles: the free development of nations, of the national character, facilitates rather than impedes the development of the international; international culture is not devoid of national traits inasmuch as it is based on the all-round development ol national cultures; the convergence of nations and nationalities seen under socialism underlines the differentiation of mankind in terms of the richness and diversity of intellectual life. The dialectic of the national and the international means that the progressive national traits are essentially international, and that the latter inevitably assumes national forms: in this correlation, the international plays the leading role.

p In the socialist environment, culture develops 186 systematically under the guidance of the Communist Party and Soviet government. This has nothing in common with "cultural dictatorship" ascribed to Communists by bourgeois ideologists. Historical materialism is equally opposed to authoritarianism, administrative methods and arbitrariness in the management of cultural development and to spontaneity and unrestrained permissiveness. All possible opportunities are created for citizens to develop and creatively apply their natural gifts and faculties.

p The state policy of developing culture in the USSR consists in the following: (1) maintaining a balance between the socio-economic and the cultural development of society; (2) asserting the communist ideology and high quality in socialist art, and strengthening its ties with the life of the people and communist construction; (3) raising the social and ideological payload of culture as a whole, and enhancing its influence in the sphere of communist education-promoting the friendship of Soviet peoples, the sense of citizens’ commitment to society, moulding a progressive morality and ideological convictions; (4) heightening the impact of culture and art in the drive to carry out crucial socio-economic, scientific, and technological tasks, creating favourable social and political climate in work collectives, evening out the considerable differences between life in town and life in the countryside, and shaping the har- 187 moniously developed individual.

p Underdeveloped socialism, the role ot culture becomes ever more significant in the intellectual development of Soviet people, in shaping adequate facilities for leisure, in promoting communist education, in developing science and technology, and in implementing important socioeconomic tasks.

p Culture in the high sense of the word has become part of the Soviet way of life. It extends to all spheres, improving people’s work and life, and establishing a sound ideological and moral atmosphere in every collective and every family. A significant role is played by cultural institutions: community centres, libraries, museums, amusement parks, and professional art and literature.

Socialist politics and culture are opposed by the politics and culture of reaction, chauvinism, and militarism. Reactionary politics has given rise to a threat to culture and civilisation on a global scale. This adds special significance to Lenin’s thesis that culture must be politically committed. All of us who care for the future of culture and civilisation and seek their further advancement, cannot stand aloof from the world-wide struggle for the lofty ideals of a truly active way of life in the material and cultural senses. The ideal of culture is to defend the humane policy of peace, democracy, and socialism, to safeguard the achievements of civilisation.