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OCR
NATIONAL
ARCHIVES-A
RECORDS
SERVICE'
all hitherto existing moral codes are derived from the mode of pro-
duction peculiar to the particular age and place in which they origi-
nate. This explains wide variations in moral codes from age to age
and from society to society. Man is born into, and influenced by, the
moral code of his time and place; changes in moral codes therefore
develop slowly.
Bourgeois morality serves the fundamental purpose of support-
ing existing social structures and it is thus basically a tool
assisting the exploiting class to maintain control over the exploited
class; it is a defense and justification of the currently prevailing
mode of economic production.
The Communist standard of morality is an extremely simple
one: namely, anything that tends to bring about the ideal Communist
society is morally good and anything that militates against it is
morally bad.
The fact that the Communist concept of bourgeois morality is
not in accord with observed facts of history, and that Communist
morality itself neglects the spiritual aspects of the subject, are not
pertinent to our present analysis.
The significance of the Communist concept of morality from
the standpoint of the relations between the United States and Soviet
Russia lies in two facts:
1. Actions of every type, no matter how abhorrent by
ordinary moral standards, are regarded as morally
good if they promote the development of the Communist
-14-
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"ocrText": "NATIONAL\nARCHIVES-A\nRECORDS\nSERVICE'\nall hitherto existing moral codes are derived from the mode of pro-\nduction peculiar to the particular age and place in which they origi-\nnate. This explains wide variations in moral codes from age to age\nand from society to society. Man is born into, and influenced by, the\nmoral code of his time and place; changes in moral codes therefore\ndevelop slowly.\nBourgeois morality serves the fundamental purpose of support-\ning existing social structures and it is thus basically a tool\nassisting the exploiting class to maintain control over the exploited\nclass; it is a defense and justification of the currently prevailing\nmode of economic production.\nThe Communist standard of morality is an extremely simple\none: namely, anything that tends to bring about the ideal Communist\nsociety is morally good and anything that militates against it is\nmorally bad.\nThe fact that the Communist concept of bourgeois morality is\nnot in accord with observed facts of history, and that Communist\nmorality itself neglects the spiritual aspects of the subject, are not\npertinent to our present analysis.\nThe significance of the Communist concept of morality from\nthe standpoint of the relations between the United States and Soviet\nRussia lies in two facts:\n1. Actions of every type, no matter how abhorrent by\nordinary moral standards, are regarded as morally\ngood if they promote the development of the Communist\n-14-"
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