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Vol. 79/No. 40 November 9, 2015
(Books of the Month column)
Building socialism requires
‘moral factor and consciousness’
In Defense of Socialism: Four Speeches on the 30th Anniversary of the
Cuban Revolution by Fidel Castro is one of Pathfinder’s Books of the
Month for November. The excerpt is from the Jan. 8, 1989, speech “The
Young Generation Must Improve and Defend Socialism.” It was given at
Ciudad Libertad, formerly Camp Columbia, the main army base under the
Washington-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, turned into a
school after the revolution. Castro talks about what motivated the
hundreds of thousands of Cubans who volunteered in Angola and risked
their lives to defend that newly independent country from invasion by
South Africa, helping to deal the apartheid regime a crushing blow in
1988. Copyright © 1989 by Pathfinder Press. Reprinted by permission.
BY FIDEL CASTRO
When slavery was abolished — and the abolition of slavery last century
was the product of the heroic struggle waged by our mambí independence
fighters in the war of 1868 — in theory the slaves were freed but in
actual practice they went on working for the landowners, the plantation
owners, and the capitalists in exchange for a wage of next to nothing.
Property did not go to the slaves, property did not go to the people.
Even when the independence of Cuba was formally proclaimed at the
beginning of the century and an allegedly Cuban government was
installed, with the constitution that carried an amendment, the
so-called Platt Amendment, entitling the United States to intervene in
our country, this did not change anything. The ownership of the land and
industry continued to be in the hands of those who owned them: the
plantation owners, the capitalists, the landowners, and a growing number
of foreign corporations. There was absolutely no change.
With the revolutionary triumph of January 1959, for the first time in
the history of our nation, property was transferred from the hands of
the exploiters into the hands of the people; for the first time a true
social revolution took place; for the first time a profound change took
place in our people’s political philosophy and consciousness. As could
be expected, this unleashed the hatred and antagonism of the U.S.
imperialists. They could not conceive of anything like it; they could
not conceive of a socialist revolution in our country. They viewed our
country as their property and our people as a herd of sheep. …
During these thirty years the revolution defended itself against
imperialist threats, imperialist aggressions, imperialist plans,
imperialist subversion, imperialist crimes. It defended itself against
the counterrevolutionary bands, mercenary invasions, plans to sabotage
our economy, attempts to assassinate revolutionary leaders, repeated
threats of direct aggression, and an economic blockade that has already
lasted thirty years. But imperialism has not disappeared, imperialism is
right there. Capitalist ideology has not disappeared and neither has
capitalism. Capitalism and capitalist ideology are right there.
Imperialism’s threats have not disappeared, they are right there.
It would be an illusion to think that the whole difficult period for the
revolution and for the nation is over. That would be an illusion that
the current generation and the coming generations can never harbor.
Imperialism has not renounced the idea of liquidating socialism in Cuba,
of liquidating revolutionary ideology in Cuba; imperialism has not
renounced the idea of liquidating our revolution. Imperialism might
change its tactics, its weapons, but U.S. imperialism is too arrogant,
too high-handed, too haughty to renounce the idea of overturning the
Cuban revolution, to renounce the idea of liquidating socialism in Cuba. …
Capitalist society is based on material incentives and it does not pay
any attention to moral factors. Building socialism cannot follow the
capitalist formula of giving the main weight to material incentives. I
already gave many examples of accomplishments where material incentives
play no role. We cannot speak of building socialism if we don’t give all
due weight to the moral factor and consciousness.
On January 4 I was really impressed when giving out diplomas to some
workers at ExpoCuba who had made a tremendous effort. I remember one
compañero who was always working; whenever I went day or night I would
always find him there. He contributed 3,500 hours of voluntary work. I
did some figuring and found it was the equivalent of almost two years of
work, in voluntary hours after his eight-hour day. [Applause] What
motivates that man, what amount of money? No money can buy that. …
When we mobilize, train, and arm millions of citizens of this country to
confront an invasion, we know millions are ready to die. What can we pay
them with? How much will we give each of the men and women of our armed
forces, the Territorial Troop Militia, and the Production and Defense
Brigades, for defending the homeland? They are defending an idea, the
sacred value of the homeland! [Applause] What amount of money will we
give the combatants going on internationalist missions, the hundreds of
thousands who went and risked their lives for an idea, for a principle,
for solidarity, for internationalism, for honor?
What men do for honor and moral principles — when I say men, I mean men
and women — what human beings do for moral principles and honor they
won’t do for all the money in the world. And I think it is an insult to
the revolutionary ideal, to revolutionary ideas, to claim that man is
only motivated by material interests.
I want to make this clear so we won’t be misunderstood. We have our feet
on the ground, very firmly on the ground! That is why we consider all
these examples, and I’ve enumerated some unique examples, which are part
of the education of our young people.
There cannot be socialism or a communist society without education,
without having certain ideas become indispensable ethical principles for
every citizen and every human being.
It is in this light that the younger generation, this generation, must
work, must create, and must improve our system.
Related articles:
Cuban revolutionaries to tour NY, DC, Bay Area Nov. 3-17
UN condemns Washington’s embargo of Cuba
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