Resolutely and persistently protect the soul of the Vietnamese people

1. Culture is the spiritual foundation of society, both the goal and the endogenous strength, an important driving force for national development. President Ho Chi Minh affirmed: "Culture must light the way for the nation", light the way for the development and progress of society, of each country and nation in the journey of construction and development.

Deeply aware of the position, role, significance and importance of culture for the country's development, throughout the process of leading the revolution, our Party has always attached great importance to the role of culture and paid great attention to the work of building culture in the cause of national liberation struggle and national construction, especially during the transition period to socialism.

In the Party's first political platform in 1930, our Party mentioned the issue of developing national culture. In 1943, when the country had not yet gained independence, our Party proposed the "Outline on Vietnamese culture", which clearly stated: "The cultural front is one of three fronts (economic, political, cultural)"; at the same time, it stated three principles for promoting the construction of Vietnamese culture: nationalization, popularization, and scientificization.

During the two wars of national liberation in the 20th century, the culture of defending the country was highly promoted, patriotism and the spirit of bravery and national unity were raised to a new height, truly becoming a spiritual driving force to mobilize all resources, contributing significantly to the Dien Bien Phu Victory "famous in five continents, shaking the earth" and the historic Ho Chi Minh Campaign, completely winning, unifying the Fatherland, bringing the country together, and the whole country advancing towards socialism.

Since 1986, under the leadership of the Party, we have carried out synchronous and comprehensive renovation in all areas of social life, from economics, politics to culture, society, national defense, security and foreign affairs. Cultural awareness has become increasingly comprehensive and profound in all areas and types; cultural products have become increasingly diverse and rich, meeting new and multifaceted demands of society. Many traditional cultural values and cultural heritages of the nation have been inherited, preserved and developed. Culture in politics and in economics has initially been respected and promoted effectively and positively. Cultural industry and cultural market have made progress. International exchange, cooperation and integration activities have made new developments. Building Vietnamese people is gradually becoming the center of the socio-economic development strategy.

2. In addition to the achievements, we also need to look directly at the limitations, shortcomings, inadequacies, and weaknesses in the cultural field, which are: Culture has not been deeply recognized by all levels and sectors and has not been given adequate attention, commensurate with the economy and politics; it has not truly become an endogenous resource and driving force for the country's sustainable development. The role of culture in human development has not been properly determined, and still tends to focus on the entertainment function. The development of cultural fields is not synchronous, one-sided, and formal, and has not gone into depth and substance. The reception of the quintessence of human culture is still limited; it has not paid due attention and has not had positive measures to preserve, protect, and promote the good and unique cultural values of the nation; sometimes it imitates foreign countries in an absurd, offensive, and unselective way.

Art performance to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Outline of Vietnamese Culture (1943-2023).

Meanwhile, hostile, reactionary, and opportunistic political forces have used every means to attack the cultural field. In addition to attacking Marxism-Leninism and Ho Chi Minh's ideology, they have tried to distort Vietnamese patriotism, deny the value of the Vietnamese people's resistance wars against colonialism and imperialism, equate justice with injustice, and confuse the role of true revolutionary soldiers with those who usurped the country and traitors. They have promoted Western cultural values; devalued literary and artistic works praising the working and fighting lives of our people and army; and praised works that tend to defame history, deny revolutionary heroism, and the noble qualities of cadres and soldiers of the armed forces...

Such manifestations risk changing the scale of moral values and lifestyles in society; arousing the instinct to pursue material and personal interests while forgetting the morality, obligations and responsibilities of citizens in a civilized and progressive country; even causing people to fall, turn their backs on traditional history and values that are deeply imbued with the character of the Vietnamese people and the Vietnamese nation.

3. To fight to protect the soul of the nation, first of all, each Party Committee, government, agency, department and functional sector needs to further raise awareness of the position and role of culture, fully grasp the Party's viewpoints and guiding thoughts on culture, and properly implement the viewpoints of the 13th Party Congress: "Socio-economic development is the center; Party building is the key; cultural development is the spiritual foundation; ensuring national defense and security is essential and regular".

Promote the role of the creative subject and the cultural beneficiary as the people; promote and enhance the pioneering role of intellectuals, artists, and cultural workers; respect and protect the diverse expressions of culture, of people, ethnic groups, regions, and areas. Build a digital cultural environment suitable for the digital economy, digital society, and digital citizens, making culture adaptable, regulating the sustainable development of the country in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, developing cultural industries, and building a healthy cultural market.

Resolutely and persistently fight against embezzlement, corruption, and negativity; fight against the degradation of political ideology, morality, and lifestyle; "sweep away individualism", the root cause of all corruption, negativity, and deterioration in the cultural sectors and agencies working in cultural affairs. Well implement the Party's viewpoint of proactively enhancing the "resistance" of all classes of people, especially young people, to harmful foreign cultural products.

In the current situation, it is necessary to resolutely and persistently fight to refute the malicious propaganda and distortions of hostile and reactionary forces against the nation's culture, firmly protecting the "cultural wall" of the community of 54 ethnic groups. In society, it is necessary to pay attention to using beauty to eliminate ugliness, promoting cultural values of national defense, patriotism, benevolence, tolerance, respect for loyalty and good morals of our ancestors. That is an effective solution to contribute to protecting the soul of the Vietnamese people.

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