To the 60th anniversary of Great October.
The Soviet working class in the conditions of developed socialism is the leading socio-political and economic force of society, cementing the alliance of workers, peasants and intellectuals. The work of the heroic working class is at the heart of the country's power and prosperity, and its ideology - Marxism-Leninism - "serves as the guiding star of our movement to the heights of social progress"1 .The working class, associated with the ownership of the whole people, with those branches of the national economy in which the highest level of complex mechanization and automation has been achieved, is a model of idealism, organization, cohesion, discipline, and inexhaustible energy. New forms of labor organization and participation in social and political life are constantly being born in the ranks of the working class. As in the previous stages of socialist construction, it initiates the most important patriotic initiatives, new forms of mass socialist competition. The labor and political activism of the working class, its innovation and initiative serve as an inspiring example for all workers, and have a decisive impact on all aspects of society.
These characteristic features of the Soviet worker were especially clearly defined during the period of developed socialism, the fact of which the construction in our country is recorded in the draft of the new Constitution of the USSR. Mature socialism is an integral system of social relations and relations and implies not only rapid growth of production, but also comprehensive development of the people themselves. The new stage of economic development is closely connected with the implementation of the scientific and technological revolution, with the task of fully accelerating scientific and technological progress. At the same time, in a society of mature socialism, there is a comprehensive development of spiritual life, ideological prerequisites are being created for the victory of communism, for the upbringing of a harmoniously developed personality of a communist society, including the personality of a worker. Speaking at the May 1977 Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee, General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee Leonid Brezhnev noted:: "Our working class today is two-thirds of the country's population. These are tens of millions of educated, technically competent, and politically mature people. Their work is increasingly approaching that of engineering and technical workers. Signifier-
1 L. I. Brezhnev. Soviet trade unions are an influential force in our society, Moscow, 1977, p. 3.
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but the social activity of the workers and their participation in the administration of the state increased. " 2 In this regard, it becomes relevant to study the ways of developing the worker's personality, the main features that characterize his spiritual appearance.
The issues of forming the personality of the Soviet worker are reflected in generalizing works and special studies on the history of the Soviet working class during the period of socialist and communist construction, 3 as well as in specific studies on various aspects of the spiritual life of the working class, its general educational and cultural-technical level, requests and means of meeting them, professional and qualification improvement of various groups of the worker social class, their material security, and changes in the spiritual world 4 . Special attention should be paid to the collective monograph "The Spiritual World of the Soviet Worker" (M. 1972), which widely uses and summarizes the materials of specific sociological studies conducted in 1969-1971 at industrial enterprises in the Urals. In the last decade, researchers ' attention has been increasingly drawn to the issues of interaction and mutual influence of scientific and technological progress and cultural and technical growth, as well as changes in the qualification level of workers .5 Economists have conducted research on the sources, forms and methods of staffing the national economy with workers, their training and professional and technical growth .6
In the Report of the Central Committee of the CPSU to the XXIV Party Congress, the formation of a new person was considered as one of the main tasks of the party in communist education. Personal aspects are present when
2 L. I. Brezhnev. On the draft Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Report at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU on May 24, 1977, Moscow, 1977, p. 3.
3 " The working class and technical progress. Research of changes in the social structure of the working class", Moscow, 1965; "The Working Class of the USSR at the present stage". Vols. I-III. L. 1968, 1973, 1974; "The working class of a developed socialist society", Moscow, 1974; V. A. Yezhov. Working Class of the USSR, L. 1974; "The Cultural Revolution in the USSR and the spiritual development of Soviet Society". Sverdlovsk. 1974; "The Working Class and scientific and technical progress", L. 1975; "The Soviet Working Class", M. 1975, and others.
4 M. T. Iovchuk, L. N. Kogan. Changes in the spiritual life of the workers of the USSR. "Scientific works of the higher school. Philosophical Sciences", 1966, N 6; their. On some problems of the spiritual culture of the Soviet worker. "Sociological studies", 1974, N 1; "Issues of spiritual development of the personality in the conditions of socialism." Krasnodar. 1968; G. G. Bazhutin. Leninism and problems of the spiritual life of the working class of the USSR. "Materials of the All-Union Symposium", Ch. P. Sverdlovsk. 1968; "Spiritual growth of the individual during the construction of communism". Cheboksary. 1971; "Spiritual formation of a person", L. 1972; R. A. Kleshcheva. Spiritual culture of the Soviet working class. Alma-Ata, 1972, et al.
5 V. V. Sharapov. Ways of improving the training of personnel. M. 1967; Y. F. Novgorod, N. M. Chaikin. Podgotovka kadrov dlya promyshlennosti [Training of personnel for industry]. Moscow, 1968; A.V. Vasiliev. Podgotovka kadrov v mashinostroenii [Training of personnel in mechanical engineering], Moscow, 1970; "Reproduction of the labor force and improving the efficiency of using labor resources", Moscow, 1971; V. V. Krevnevich. The impact of scientific and technological progress on the changing structure of the working class of the USSR. M. 1971; V. G. Afanasyev. Nauchno-tekhnicheskaya revolyutsiya, upravlenie, obrazovanie [Scientific and Technical revolution, management, education]. Moscow, 1972; O. I. Shafranova. Professional staff of industrial workers of the USSR, Moscow, 1972; E. S. Karlik. Problemy kvalifitsirovannoi rabochoi sily [Problems of qualified labor]. L. 1972; N. V. Markov. Nauchno-tekhnicheskaya revolyutsiya: analiz, perspektivy, posledstviya [Scientific and Technical Revolution: analysis, prospects, consequences]. Scientific and technical revolution and revolution in education, Moscow, 1973; "Movement of workers ' cadres in industry", Moscow, 1973; D. P. Kaidalov, E. I. Suimenko. Aktual'nye problemy sotsiologii truda [Actual problems of Labor Sociology], Moscow, 1974, et al.
6 V. R. Polozov, G. F. Komarov. Problems of planned formation and use of industrial workers, Moscow, 1968; S. Ya. Batyshev. Formation of qualified workers in the USSR, Moscow, 1971; G. P. Sergeeva, L. S. Chizhova. Use labor resources more effectively. Moscow, 1971; N. A. Aitov. Technical progress and the movement of workers 'cadres, M. 1972;" Problems of using labor in the conditions of the scientific and technical revolution", M. 1973, et al.
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analysis of almost all social problems: accelerating scientific and technological progress, improving material well-being, and improving production. All the problems of the further development of a socialist society are actually connected with the formation of certain "personality traits". Education of high moral and political qualities is included as an integral element in the general program of improving social relations in developed socialism and acts as one of the conditions for the implementation of this program.
However, the question of the formation of the socialist qualities of the worker has not yet been fully studied. The scientific and practical significance of the study of this topic is that it allows us to reveal more deeply and comprehensively the ways of further development of the modern worker's personality, the growth of his production and social activity, the forms and methods of training workers, and improving their professional skills. In the "Main directions of development of the national economy of the USSR for 1976-1980" adopted at the XXV Congress of the CPSU, it is written:: "The tenth five-year plan is a new important stage in creating the material and technical base of communism, improving social relations and forming a new person, and developing a socialist way of life." 7 Given the relevance of the topic, its theoretical and practical significance, breadth and diversity, this article attempts to reveal the qualitative leap that occurred in the development of the worker's personality in the conditions of mature socialism, to show the main features of his character, the richness and diversity of his spiritual interests.
The Soviet worker is the successor of the Russian proletariat, which had the characteristics of an advanced, revolutionary class: intransigence to exploitation and political oppression, consciousness and organization, steadfastness and mutual aid in the struggle. Because of these qualities, the proletariat of Russia showed a desire to assimilate the socialist ideology, and was able to conduct a conscious, organized struggle for the interests of all working people, which predetermined the fate of the revolution. In the course of socialist construction, the Soviet working class proved to be the creator of modern production, new social relations, and the most advanced democracy.
Human activity and behavior in society are determined by a complex of economic, social, political, cultural, ideological and moral conditions. In a socialist society, all its members, including its vanguard, the working class, develop personality traits that determine its socialist orientation. This is achieved through the development of forms of collective production, economic and moral stimulation of the socialist attitude to work through the assimilation of a scientific, Marxist-Leninist worldview and communist moral principles and norms. "The formation of a new person," the CPSU Program says, " takes place in the process of active participation in the construction of communism, the development of communist principles in economic and social life, under the influence of the entire system of educational work of the party, the state and public organizations."8
Under socialism, public ownership opens up a wide scope for the development of the productive forces and thus provides the possibility of accelerated all-round progress of society. Thanks to the growth of social production, the economic power of the socialist Motherland is being strengthened, which guarantees the further expansion of social production.-
7 "XXV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union". Stenographic report, vol. 2, Moscow, 1976, p. 233.
8 "Program of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union", Moscow, 1961, p. 117
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providing material and spiritual conditions for the comprehensive development of society's members. A systematic organization of the economy eliminates unemployment, ensures a constant increase in the material well-being of workers, guarantees them a life perspective, makes it possible to understand the goals and objectives of economic development, and thus creates conditions for their conscious participation in production and in all social life. The socialist principle "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his work" is addressed directly to the individual and encourages the identification and development of human abilities and talents. The steady increase in the material well-being and cultural level of the people under the conditions of socialism is the law of development of society. Socialist democracy involves millions of ordinary workers in the management of public affairs. All this can be traced back to the development of the personality of the modern Soviet worker.
The Soviet worker appears primarily as an ideological personality: his ideology is Marxism-Leninism, his life principles are communist principles. He feels like the master of his country. In this regard, such qualities as optimism and purposefulness, confidence in the future, political and labor activity are manifested. The worker's worldview serves the purpose of cognition and transformation of reality. "Without work, without struggle," V. I. Lenin pointed out, "book knowledge of communism from communist pamphlets and works is worth absolutely nothing." 9 The truth of these Leninist words is most clearly shown in the behavior of the modern worker. The formation of the workers ' scientific worldview and ideological conviction is directed by the Communist Party. As indicated in the Report of the Central Committee of the CPSU to the XXV Party Congress, its educational and ideological work is focused on the task of developing a Marxist-Leninist worldview, high ideological and political qualities, and norms of communist morality among all working people. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the organic fusion of ideological positions with active practical, socially significant actions .10
The effectiveness of ideological education is largely determined by the content and formulation of political education, which promotes the cohesion of labor collectives, develops initiative and creative activity of people, forms a conscious attitude to business and has a fruitful effect on solving socio-economic and ideological-educational tasks. The content of workers ' political education has been significantly enriched in recent years. However, insufficient attention is still paid to the daily behavior of the worker, that is, the area in which mainly everyday psychological motives operate, acting in the form of habits and skills in work and everyday life. A person's perception of communist morality does not automatically make them exemplary in their work, in their compliance with the rules and norms of the hostel. Otherwise, there would be no violations of socialist discipline, the norms of the hostel, the phenomenon of domestic lack of culture. Therefore, it is important to increase the attention of labor collectives to the development of such cultural, labor and everyday skills in the modern Soviet worker that would correspond to his socialist ideology.
At the XXV Congress of the CPSU, the actual problem of forming a harmoniously developed structure of material and spiritual needs of a person and steadily increasing them was also put forward. "An advanced worldview, a socialist way of thinking and acting, as a well-known-
9 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 41, p. 302.
10 See the XXV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Stenographic report, vol. 1, Moscow, 1976, pp. 102-103.
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but you can't give a person a key to a new apartment, a bonus, a trip to a sanatorium and other benefits that our people enjoy, " 11 First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus Pavel Masherov said in a speech at the congress. This leads to the task of making better use of the growing objective possibilities and achievements of real socialism for the harmonization of human needs, increasing the consciousness and spiritual culture of each member of society.
The spiritual wealth of the modern worker consists not only in the accumulation of knowledge, the development of certain beliefs, skills, and tastes. It also implies a desire to pass on your knowledge to other people, to enrich your social connections. Great interest in public affairs and active participation in social and political activities became a characteristic feature of the Soviet worker. Lenin introduced the term "political culture"into the theory of Marxism-Leninism. "The aim of political culture, of political education," he said, "is to bring up true communists who can overcome lies and prejudices and help the working masses to overcome the old order." 12 The concept of political culture includes socio-political knowledge, views and beliefs; the ability to understand the social policy of the party and the state; socio-political practice, the ability to manage, organize the masses to solve socio-political problems.
During the period of developed socialist society, the political culture of the working class not only grew, but also its leading role in the development of the political culture of all working people became stronger. The political culture of workers is manifested through their active participation in the activities of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the Komsomol, trade unions, Soviets of Workers ' Deputies and other public organizations. In 1956-1961, workers made up 40.6% of the candidates accepted as party members, in 1962-1965 - 47.6%, and in 1966-1971 - already 52%. In the party organizations of such large industrial regions as Moscow, Leningrad, Sverdlovsk, Gorky, Donetsk, Karaganda, and some others, during the period between the XXIII and XXIV Congresses of the CPSU, workers among those accepted as party candidates accounted for 60-70%13 . The Report of the Central Committee of the CPSU to the XXV Party Congress emphasizes that "in the conditions of developed socialism, when the Communist Party has become the party of all the people, it does not lose its class character. By its very nature, the CPSU was and remains a party of the working class. " 14 By the time of the opening of the XXV Congress of the CPSU, there were 15694 thousand Communists in the party, 41.6% of them were workers. They accounted for 58% of those joining the party. "This is natural, it reflects the leading role of the working class in the life of society." 15 A significant part of the delegates to the XXV Congress of the CPSU (34.1%) were employees of various branches of socialist industry, of which almost 77% were representatives of the heroic working class16 . Among the working delegates were those who are laying the Baikal-Amur Mainline, building the Kama Automobile Plant and the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, building the oil and gas production complex of Western Siberia and other important objects of the country's national economy.
After the XXIV Party Congress, the number of trade unions increased significantly. Now they unite almost the entire working class, the intelligentsia, and numerous detachments of rural workers. In his
11 Ibid., p. 158.
12 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 41, p. 404.
13 "Party Life", 1973, N 14, p. 13; "XXIV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union". Stenographic report, vol. I. M. 1971, p. 118.
14 "XXV Congress of the Communist Party". Verbatim report, vol. 1, p. 88.
15 Ibid.
16 Ibid., p. 295.
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In their daily activities, trade unions actively assist the Communist Party in implementing its economic policy, achieve further development of the socialist economy by increasing production efficiency, improving its quality indicators, accelerating the growth rate of labor productivity and scientific and technological progress.
The proportion of workers in the Soviets of Workers ' Deputies has increased. Thus, among the deputies of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the seventh convocation (1966), workers accounted for 26.6%, the eighth convocation (1970) - 31.7%, and the ninth convocation (1974) - 32.7% 17 . In the local councils elected in 1967, 29.6% were workers; in 1971, 36.5% were workers .18 In 1975, workers accounted for 31.6% of the deputies of the Supreme Soviets of the Union Republics, 35.7% in the Supreme Soviets of Autonomous Republics ,and 40.5% in local Soviets. 19 Considering the Soviets as the most accessible and most convenient form of involving the working masses in the management of state affairs, Lenin pointed out the peculiarity of the representative authorities of our society, which consists in the fact that our "parliamentarians must work themselves, execute their own laws, check what happens in life, and answer directly to their constituents.""20 . Thus, the activity of workers ' deputies-members of the standing committees of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR is aimed at preparing various issues submitted for consideration by the Supreme Soviet, at monitoring the implementation by ministries and departments of the laws of the country and government decisions. Working-class deputies express their attitude to legislative acts, analyze the issues discussed at sessions and commissions with expertise.
The success of a workshop or enterprise is determined by the well-coordinated work of the entire team. The road to this goal is being paved by workers, innovators and leaders of production, activists who are vitally interested in working better today than yesterday, and tomorrow-better than today. This is the goal of the social and political activity of the working class, which is one of the most important characteristics of the modern Soviet worker. Lenin wrote about the social actions of man: "By what signs can we judge the real' thoughts and feelings ' of real individuals? It is clear that there can be only one such sign: the actions of these individuals, and since we are talking only about social "thoughts and feelings", we should add social actions of individuals, i.e., social facts. " 21
At all stages of socialist construction in our country, the working class, fulfilling its leading role in society, constantly took part in the management of the country's economy and in solving state issues. The party promoted the most developed, skilful, and talented representatives of the working class to leadership positions and sent them to study in higher educational institutions, forming them into the ranks of the intelligentsia. This process is still happening now. But in a developed socialist society, the problem is that broad sections of the working class participate in the management of production without changing their social status, while continuing to remain in their jobs. We must not forget Lenin's instruction about the need to closely monitor "the actual state of consciousness".-
17 "Pravda", 19. VI. 1974.
18 "Pravda", 20. VI. 1971.
19 "Pravda", 21. VI. 1975.
20 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 33, p. 48.
21 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 1, pp. 423-424.
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It is precisely the entire class (and not just its communist vanguard) that is being trained and prepared."22
The Soviet worker takes a deep interest in the development of his enterprise, and bears his share of responsibility both for the general state of affairs and for the area assigned to him. He is aware that he is the master of his country and his production. This feeling is inextricably linked with socialist society, with its achievements, principles and rules; this feeling becomes more and more profound as the overall success of communist construction and educational work increases. Leonid Brezhnev emphasized this in his speech at the XVI Congress of Trade Unions of the USSR: "The desire and opportunity to make your own personal contribution to the common cause serve as a huge incentive to work, teach you to think big, in a state-like way, to perceive common concerns as your own. Where the working man knows that his voice is listened to, that he is taken into account, and that his position is really taken into account in the development of social and economic plans, then, and only there, he feels himself the true master of production, the master of his own destiny. This is how political tasks and industrial tasks meet. " 23 This is especially evident now, when there is a national discussion of the new draft Constitution of the USSR. The free exchange of opinions on fundamental issues of the development of our society and state is the clearest example of socialist democracy. By actively participating in the discussion of the draft new Constitution, Soviet workers are even more deeply aware of the fullness and diversity of their rights and freedoms, the greatness and significance of genuine people's power.
The social activity of the Soviet worker is most fully revealed in socialist competition, especially in its highest form-the movement for a communist attitude to work. At the present stage of development, the content of socialist competition has been immeasurably enriched, its Leninist principles have been further developed, and its arsenal of forms and methods has been expanded. There have been quantitative and qualitative changes in the composition of the participants of the competition, and its social base has expanded. Today, 97.5 million people participate in the competition , which is 22.8 million more than in 1972. The number of participants in the movement for a communist attitude to labor reached 57.8 million people .24 Now the competition practically covers the entire working class, the entire collective farm peasantry, large detachments of employees, and the Soviet intelligentsia. Its influence extends to all spheres of the national economy.
With the transformation of our society into a society of developed socialism, socialist competition has also reached a high level of maturity. It is increasingly manifesting itself as an effective form of combining the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution with the advantages of the socialist economic system, is increasingly intertwined with the mechanism of planning and managing production, state and public affairs, and is becoming a powerful tool for complex solution of the tasks of communist construction. The current rise of socialist competition is a clear result of the close fusion of political and labor education. A movement for the adoption of counter-plans has spread across the country. The initiative of the team of the Moscow Automobile Plant named after I. A. Likhachev to accelerate the introduction of science and technology achievements into production and increase the output of top-quality products was widely taken up. Moskov teams-
22 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 41, p. 42.
23 L. I. Brezhnev. Soviet trade unions are an influential force in our society, p. 14.
24 Pravda, 22. III. 1977.
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The Dynamo Automobile Plant, Gorky Automobile Plant, and Minsk Automobile Plant showed an example of increasing labor productivity based on each employee's personal creative plans. From the first days of the tenth five-year plan, a nationwide socialist competition was launched under the slogan: "Increase the efficiency of production and the quality of work in the name of further economic growth and national welfare!".
Socialist commitments have a mobilizing effect on the competitors, developing their initiative and creative initiative in every possible way. Even at the moment when socialist commitments are drawn up, the worker self-critically evaluates his achievements, compares them with those of his comrades, considers possibilities for increasing labor productivity, and seeks ways to rationalize and improve the production process. All this activates his creative thinking, mobilizes his will. The development of the Soviet worker is particularly clearly characterized by personal plans for early performance of production tasks, as well as careful planning of their work. For example, about 1 million Leningrad workers compete to complete a five-day task in four days based on comprehensive productivity improvement plans. Now this competition is being improved, taking on a complex character, gaining strength under the motto: "From high quality of work of everyone - to high efficiency of work of the team!" Only during the years of the ninth five-year plan did Leningraders get an effect equivalent to an additional attraction of more than 40 thousand workers to the industry .25
In the course of socialist competition, participation in various forms of state and industrial management, the features that are inherent in the worker of a developed socialist society are revealed: creative character and depth of thinking, criticality, independence, discipline, perseverance and initiative. The development of creative thinking among the worker is a consequence of a combination of mental and physical labor, an increase in the educational level and a broad involvement of workers in the process of rationalizing production and managing it. Discipline and perseverance are explained by the unity of personal and public interests of Soviet people. The active creative role of the working class in a developed socialist society and the enormous responsibility of the workers for the fate of the country are shown in the speeches of delegates to the XXV Congress of the CPSU. "All our thoughts and aspirations are aimed at working better today than yesterday, better tomorrow than today, so that we can devote all our strength, knowledge and energy to the struggle for the implementation of the party's majestic plans."26, - said in his speech the foreman of the complex brigade of the construction department N 111 of the Zelenogradstroy department, Hero of Socialist Labor N. A. Zlobin.
Scientific and technological progress raises the importance of collective labor even more. To ensure the normal functioning, and even more so the comprehensive improvement of the machine system, there is little effort on the part of individual workers, specialists, and innovators; it requires the activity of a whole team with a scientific worldview, knowledge system, and qualifications. The brotherhood of workers, which was formed in the revolutionary struggle under the conditions of capitalism and developed during the construction of socialism, is now becoming the norm of relations between all citizens in a mature socialist society. As a feature of new social relations, fraternity manifests itself in collectivism, creative competition, comradely help and mutual criticism. Collectivism that does not exclude a person's individuality-
25 "XXV Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union". Verbatim report, vol. 1, p. 146.
26 Ibid., p. 318.
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centuries, the unity of the public and the personal, the ability to lead and obey, responsibility and activity, labor rivalry and mutual assistance, discipline, loyalty to the best traditions and innovation-these are the qualities of the modern Soviet worker.
With the change in the nature of labor in a developed socialist society and the attitude of the worker towards it, the latter's attitude towards culture and education also changed. The authority of knowledge, science, and an educated person in the eyes of the worker has risen to an enormous height. Intensive spiritual life became a characteristic feature of Soviet reality, and the desire for knowledge, culture, and a wide range of intellectual needs became an integral part of the personality of the modern worker. Scientific and technological progress also requires this. Only those workers who have extensive knowledge and skillfully use the equipment can stand at the control panel of a workshop or enterprise and repair complex equipment. This was stated at the XXV Congress of the CPSU by the foreman of the Nagornaya mine in the Kemerovo region, Hero of Socialist Labor E. I. Drozdetsky: "The working conditions in the face have changed unrecognizably, and the miner himself has already become completely different. His physical strength has not been depleted, but the main thing in our business now is knowledge and skillful use of technology. " 27
A change in the professional structure of the working class presupposes an increase in its educational level as the main condition. Anyone who takes up the great task of building communism, Lenin said, "must understand that only on the basis of modern education can he create it, and if he does not have this education, communism will remain only a wish." 28 In 1959, 22 per 1,000 workers had higher and secondary specialized education, 62 - general secondary education, 312 - incomplete secondary education, 412 - primary education, and in 1970 - 37, 162, 387, and 308,29 respectively . In 1976, 68% of workers in the USSR had higher, full-time secondary, specialized secondary, or incomplete secondary education30 .
In the period of a developed socialist society, under the influence of the scientific and technological revolution, a working man - an intellectual - is gradually formed. Performing the duties of a worker by profession, he actually becomes or has already become an intellectual by education and creative range. These are representatives of a highly qualified working class detachment. According to the 1970 All-Union Population Census, about 2.5 million people with higher, incomplete higher and secondary specialized education were employed in the workplace (approximately 11.5% of all those employed in the national economy with such education)31 . In the industry of the U.S.S.R. there are up to 700,000 such workers, but the growth rate of this section of the working class is exceptionally high. 32 "The modern level of production, scientific and technological progress," noted L. I. Brezhnev, " increasingly bring the work of the worker and peasant closer to the work of the engineer, technician, and agronomist. An important role here is played by the rapid growth of the culture of the entire population. The Party strives to ensure that all workers and all peasants become intelligent in the broadest sense of the word, make full use of their creative abilities, and actively participate in the spiritual life of our entire society. " 33 Education is one of the most important-
27 Ibid., p. 152.
28 V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 41, p. 307.
29 "Bulletin of Statistics", 1973, N 3, p. 86.
30 "National economy of the USSR in 1975". Statistical Yearbook, Moscow, 1976, p. 38.
31 "Results of the All-Union Population Census of 1970", Vol. V. M. 1972, pp. 26, 66.
32 "Reproduction of the labor force and improving the efficiency of the use of labor resources", Moscow, 1971, p. 121.
33 L. I. Brezhnev. Lenin's Course, vol. 2, Moscow, 1973, p. 105.
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the most important factors of rapprochement between the working class and the intelligentsia. Improving the forms and methods of general and special education of workers accelerates this process and brings closer the time when significant differences in the educational level between the working class and the intelligentsia disappear.
Modern production requires constant improvement not only of the general education level of workers, but also of their production skills. A skilled worker today has mathematical, natural science, and socio-political knowledge. In this regard, the requirements for the system of training and advanced training of workers in socialist production are increasing. In 1975, about 30% of the total number of all workers received a new profession or advanced qualification (in 1965-21.6%) 34 . However, the necessary communication and coordination is not always established between individual parts of the system of training and retraining of workers within the industry (schools, courses, vocational schools, institutes, etc.), and there is often no holistic, sufficiently scientifically based management of individual elements of the system.
A sociological study conducted by the author at the Krasnaya Etna plant (Gorky) and the Zavolzhsky Motor Plant named after the 50th Anniversary of the USSR (Zavolzhye, Gorky region) confirms the fact of a significant increase in the cultural and technical level of workers in recent years. By the mid-60s, the Zavolzhsky Plant was one of the largest in Europe in terms of automation and pipelining. The share of automatic equipment exceeded 87%, and 35 complete pipelining was completed . The plant currently operates over 100 automatic and production lines, and has six integrated mechanized workshops 36 . The level of automation and complex mechanization is also high at the Krasnaya Etna plant. According to the personnel departments of these enterprises, 30% of all workers have secondary and specialized secondary education. Of the surveyed workers in five automated workshops, 15.6% have higher and secondary specialized education, 69.5% have secondary (full and incomplete) education, and only 14.9% have primary education. Among workers with primary education, 56.6% are aged 40-60 years. More than half of the workers (54.3%) are engaged in the repair and adjustment of automatic machines and lines, work as operators or on conveyors and complex machines, only 11.8% are engaged in manual labor. Workers of automated workshops have high grades and average monthly production rates: 33.2% - V-VI grades, 42.8% - III-IV, 13.8% - I-II grades; 73.1% of workers meet the average monthly production rate of 100-140%. Among highly qualified workers of the VI category, 15.9% have secondary special education, 59.1 % - secondary (full and incomplete) and only 25% - primary (mostly older workers with long work experience at the enterprise). The professional level of workers is raised through industrial and technical courses, advanced training courses, and communist labor schools. 1.5% of the surveyed workers improve their skills in targeted training courses, 30.5% in individual training, 13.3% in team training, 2.4% in industrial training, and 9.7% in communist labor schools.
Sociological studies at the Krasnaya Etna and Zavolzhsky Motorny factories have revealed some regularities:-
34 Calculated from: "The national economy of the USSR in 1975", p. 559; "The USSR in figures in 1974", Moscow, 1975, p. 161.
35 " The working class and technical progress. A study of changes in the social structure of the working class", p. 69.
36 N. Kitaev. On a scientific basis. Ekonomicheskaya Gazeta, 1975, No. 6, p. 15.
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The relationship between the worker's qualifications, education, and level of cultural needs is discussed. With the increase in general education and professional training, the Soviet worker is becoming more and more involved in art, in artistic creativity, and the range of his requests and interests is noticeably expanding. In the course of communist construction, the spiritual needs of the worker grow, and his creative abilities develop. He participates in performances of amateur groups, folk art exhibitions, and film festivals. For example, I. V. Arzamastsev, a metalworker at the Verkh-Isetsky Plant (Sverdlovsk region), writes paintings and knows classical music well. For 43 years, he has been participating in the folk theater of the Palace of Culture of the Ust-Katavsky Car Building Plant in the Urals as a fitter-assembler F. P. Yesarev. Over the years, he has performed more than 100 roles, including in such plays as "Lyubov Yarovaya", "Platon Krechet", "Tribunal". Turner N. P. Dmitrieva has been working in this team for 30 years. Amateur art has become an integral part of their lives, helped them raise the level of their own artistic development, and become highly cultured people 37 .
Studies conducted by the Lenin State Library of the USSR in small towns showed that 82% of workers there regularly read books and articles on international politics, 71% - on domestic life, 66% - on moral and educational issues, 45% - special scientific and technical literature, 33% - on social issues. - popular science books 38 . Similar results were obtained in a survey of workers in the Moscow and Gorky regions.
Libraries attract a large number of working readers. Own libraries and forms of workers - readers of factory libraries indicate their active interest in the book. At the same time, it is very important, as it was noted in the resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On increasing the role of libraries in the communist education of workers and scientific and technological progress" (May 1974), that library workers contribute to familiarizing the working person with the values of spiritual culture, help them correctly use books to improve their cultural and technical level 39 .
The main library of the Krasnoe Sormovo plant (Gorky) has more than 250 thousand books, together with its branches it serves more than 25 thousand readers. The library holds reading conferences, debates, meetings with writers and scientists, consultations for workers studying in technical schools and universities. Most of the Sormovich forms contain works by the founders of Marxism-Leninism, as well as fiction and technical literature. The analysis of readers ' interests shows that the line between the worker reader and the engineer reader is increasingly blurred, and this strongly indicates the spiritual growth of workers.
The increased cultural level of workers allows them to perform new social functions. The worker-lecturer, propagandist, agitator-is becoming an increasingly widespread phenomenon. The number of workers - members of editorial boards of wall and large-circulation newspapers, workers ' correspondents-is increasing.
Thus, in the conditions of mature socialism, a qualitative leap occurred in the development of the worker's personality: the communist worldview and morality were established in the consciousness of the worker, and they became stronger-
37 "Nedelya", 1976, N 12, pp. 10-11; "Sovetskaya kul'tura", 20. II. 1976. ,
38 "Modern problems of sociology", Moscow, 1974, pp. 80-81.
39 "The CPSU on the formation of a new man". Collection of documents and materials (1965-1976), Moscow, 1976, p.177.
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la his craving for an active social life. The high consciousness, discipline, organization, and collectivism of the working class determine its leading position in the system of socialist social relations, and this position is strengthened as the culture, education, and political activity of the workers grow. These characteristics of the working class determine the formation of the corresponding personality traits of the advanced worker. There are more and more workers who have mastered their profession perfectly and, having a secondary education, continue to study and master the advanced achievements of science and technology .40
Success in shaping the personality of the modern worker does not remove the need for persistent systematic work to educate all members of society in communist consciousness. Its further development is influenced by changes in working conditions that occur under the influence of scientific and technological progress, the growth of material well-being and free time, the improvement of education and upbringing, and active participation in social activities. In the sphere of production, there are also unresolved problems: low qualification of some categories of workers, lack of interest in their work among some representatives of low-skilled professions, violations of labor discipline. This, of course, hinders the development of production. However, the results achieved in forming a new attitude to work give us confidence that these problems will be solved.
The socialist reality, the Soviet way of life, is a fertile ground for the comprehensive formation of the individual, including the personality of the worker. The Soviet social system has all the conditions for educating a new person. In the tenth five-year plan, the country will have approximately twice as much material and financial resources as in the past 15 years, which creates new opportunities for solving the main socio-economic tasks set by the Party Program, the XXIV and XXV Congresses of the CPSU. This applies, first of all, to the further improvement of the welfare of the Soviet people, to the improvement of their working and living conditions, to significant progress in health care, education, and culture - to everything that contributes to the formation of a new person, to the comprehensive development of the individual, and to the improvement of the socialist way of life. But the presence of objective conditions does not mean that this process will happen by itself. The purposeful activity of the party, of Soviet society as a whole, and of all its organizations is brought to the fore.
The party considers the education of a new person to be its main task and applies all forms and methods of ideological influence for this purpose. In 1966-1975, the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR adopted resolutions aimed at further improving the general education and professional level of workers, developing inventive and rationalizing activities in the country, and improving the ideological and political education of workers. Special attention in these resolutions was paid to the preparation of a young shift of the working class. Questions of raising the general education, cultural, and professional level of working systems are ethically discussed at congresses and plenums of the Central Committee of the CPSU, trade unions of the USSR, and the Komsomol, as well as at the plenums and bureaus of regional committees, city committees, and district party committees. All-factory and shop commissions work at factories and factories to involve production workers in working-class youth schools, technical schools, and institutes. Issues of study, professional development, and spiritual growth of workers
40 "Materials of the XXIV Congress of the CPSU", Moscow, 1973, p. 73.
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It is given a significant place in the plans of economic and social development of enterprises.
The XXIII Congress of the CPSU decided that each enterprise, along with the production plan, should have a single comprehensive plan for the comprehensive social development of the collective, which provides for measures to gradually reduce the socio-economic differences between physical and mental workers, and a program for increasing their cultural and technical level .41 Currently, only in Leningrad and the Leningrad region, 950 labor collectives live and work according to the plans of economic and social development. The implementation of such a plan in the association "Svetlana" allowed to significantly raise the level of education of workers, to increase their average qualification level. These results can be explained by the fact that the initiators and creators of a comprehensive plan for the economic and social development of the collective were the workers themselves, the general director, engineers, and party employees. "What we jointly conceived and planned, we jointly implement," said Mikhail Ivanov, a milling operator at the mechanical assembly shop. - The plan was born directly on the sites, in the shops, departments of the enterprise. His project was hotly discussed at working meetings. Collective work on the plan and its implementation were a business school of management. People have felt more deeply the power and authority of the workers 'word and deed." 42 Such plans are now being created not only in individual teams, but also on the scale of the district, region, and republic. The art of planning the social development of a team requires the ability to see the future, the ability to determine what social consequences will be entailed by a particular event related to the introduction of new technology, achievements and discoveries of scientific thought.
Measures taken at the initiative of the Central Committee of the CPSU to improve the social functions of labor collectives play a huge role in developing the activity of Soviet workers and strengthening their high moral consciousness and behavior. Of particular importance in this regard are the resolutions of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On the work on the selection and education of ideological cadres in the party organization of Belarus" and"On the work of the party organization of the Minsk Tractor Plant to increase the production and socio-political activity of the labor collective" 43 . In the labor collective, the closest connection is made between the education and upbringing of the working people and the life and practice of communist construction, and all the richness of the Soviet workers ' human nature is revealed. Therefore, it is very important to purposefully improve the social microenvironment, intra-collective relations, which play the same important role in the process of education as the improvement of all the means of ideological and educational work that the team has at its disposal. "It is necessary," the Central Committee of the CPSU points out, " to thoroughly develop ways and methods of activating labor collectives in communist construction, to work out the system of interaction of technical, economic, organizational, ideological and other factors in the education of workers. Make better use of planning for the social development of production collectives to increase the labor and social activity of workers, and the effectiveness of ideological and political education. " 44
41 See the XXIII Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Stenographic report, vol. I. M. 1966, p. 146.
42 Cit. by: M. Vasin, Yu. Zakharov. Who manages the company. Pravda, 13. VI. 1972.
43 "The CPSU on the formation of a new man", p. 140, 186.
44 Ibid., p. 191.
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The image of a modern Soviet worker organically combines the consciousness of an industrial worker involved in intellectual activity and an active fighter for a new life, asserting high standards of human relations. The working class, being the leading force in our society, expresses the interests of the whole people: his powerful creative energy is directed to the successful implementation of the socio-economic tasks set by the XXV Congress of the CPSU, the decisions of the May (1977) Plenum of the CPSU Central Committee. The personality of a modern Soviet worker is formed on the basis of the achievements of previous history, the accumulated experience of the past. It is continuously developing and improving. The views, beliefs and ideals of an advanced working-class developed socialist society determine the present and future of our Motherland, which is building communism. Now, during the national discussion of the draft new Constitution of the USSR, which is being developed in the period of preparation for the 60th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the Soviet people, under the leadership of the Communist Party, are working hard to implement the decisions of its XXV Congress. The discussion of the draft Constitution of the USSR turned into a powerful stimulus for further activation of the country's social life, awakened new creative forces in the working class, collective farm peasantry and intelligentsia, and gave even greater scope to the socialist competition for the successful fulfillment of the tasks of the tenth five-year plan, for a worthy celebration of the Great October Anniversary.
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