The Revolutionary Youths Must Help to Solve the
People’s Livelihoods Directly – The Khmer Rouge, 11/1975

Republished from Revolutionary Male & Female Youth’s, Angkar’s publication for the youth.

Must see the insufficient livelihood of our people

The savage and invasive war waged by the American imperialists and their servants for more than five years
has caused indescribable destruction to our nation and the Kampuchean people. Hundreds of villages and
homes of our people were burned to the ground by bombing and shelling from the American imperialists
and their servants. Sometimes, the enemy bombed and strafed entire villages with machine guns or burned
down all the houses in a village. Many farms, gardens, and rice paddies were bombed, shelled, and burned
by the enemy every day. The rice crops, produced by the sweat and labor of our people and stored in granaries,
were burned by the enemy each time they raided a village or commune. The cattle, which were the vital force
for food production for our people, were also destroyed by enemy machine-gun fire and bombing. Others were
captured and taken to enemy bases, where they were slaughtered for food, bringing our cattle population
close to extinction. Besides this, during the more than five years of the revolutionary war, our people sacri
-ficed everything they had to support the revolution. This sacrifice helped us defeat the enemy. Brothers
and sisters gave their sons and daughters to serve in the military and join the revolutionary ranks. Although
they faced constant shortages and hunger caused by the enemy’s daily destructive actions, they still willingly
divided what little rice, food, scarves, blankets, and mosquito nets they had and sent them to the front lines
with a joyful and kind spirit. Moreover, our people sacrificed their physical and mental strength — and even
their own lives — for the revolutionary war. In conclusion, during the savage and invasive war waged by the
American imperialists and their servants over the past five years, our Kampuchean people suffered immensely.
After the entire country was liberated, our Kampuchean people — especially the base people who had just
emerged from the war and still lacked everything — had to shoulder the additional responsibility of feeding
nearly three million more people who had come from Phnom Penh and other provincial towns. Even in this
difficult situation, our people did not complain. They united together to support and supply food to these “new
people” without any hesitation or discontent. Our people, especially those in the cooperatives, never complained
about their own shortages or hunger. Today, the livelihood of our people is seriously insufficient.

They face shortages of food, clothing, production tools and equipment, and medicine. Yet, although they lack
everything and suffer from food shortages, our people never demand anything from the Party. They try their
best to solve their own problems because they clearly understand that our country has just emerged from a
devastating invasive war, and both our nation and our revolution are still poor. This truth is undeniable and
obvious. Our revolutionary male and female youths must clearly see and understand this reality: our people
are currently facing extremely difficult living conditions because they lack everything. However, we must not
view this situation with sadness, pessimism, or by blaming or accusing any person or any part of the Angkar.
Our revolutionary male and female youths must see this obvious truth as a painful lesson that strengthens
our resolve. As the servants and the flesh and blood of the people, we must take practical measures and
personally exert our utmost ability to help the people solve their livelihood problems. II. Views, Stances, and
Some Past Wrong Activities That Affected the People’s Livelihood After the complete victory and liberation
of the country, many of our revolutionary male and female youths fell into a state of pacifism. They became
overly joyful with victory, flashy, and careless in their daily lives, completely forgetting the revolutionary moral
stance. While the people were nearly starving, some of our revolutionary youths either did not see this misery
or saw it but ignored it. They were not concerned and did not link their own livelihood with that of the people.
They believed that if the people were starving, it was the people’s problem. As for themselves — revolutionary
youths serving in the military, offices, ministries, or various work units — they did not worry about hunger
because the Party provided them with rations. Because of this wrong view and stance, some of our revolut
-ionary male and female youths committed wrongdoings that seriously affected the people’s livelihood.

Examples: Shortly after liberation, the Party instructed them to collect various goods — including rice, salt,
materials, clothes, pots, and pans — and redistribute them to the people who were facing severe shortages.
However, some comrades did not understand the seriousness and importance of the people’s livelihood, or
simply did not care about the people’s suffering. They paid little attention to this task. Some were careless
while collecting the goods: they did not pick up rice and salt that had spilled on the ground, and even let
salt melt away. Others left clothes and materials exposed to the sun and rain, causing them to rot. When
collecting pots and pans, they tossed them carelessly without concern that the items might break. They
did not regret any damage because they thought there were plenty of such items. While the Party was
focused on collecting necessary goods for redistribution to the people, some revolutionary youths took
only the items they liked for their own personal use, for their unit, or sent them to their relatives and families.
Sometimes they stored items in warehouses even though they did not need them, while the people desp
-erately required those same goods. While our people were nearly starving, some revolutionary youths in
certain offices, units, and ministries lived comfortably, ate well, wore flashy clothes, and wasted resources.
They were disconnected from the people’s livelihood. At some places, they ignored the Party’s food ration
policy and cooked excessive amounts of rice simply because they saw large stocks in the warehouse. They
allowed cooked rice to rot, dumped it in the garbage, or fed it to pigs and poultry. Thus, while the people
were nearly starving, some comrades had surplus food and even threw half of it away. When their clothes
became old or had a small tear, they did not mend them but threw them away — stuffing them in banana
bushes or between walls — and asked for new ones. In doing so, they showed no concern for the people,
who were poor and often dressed in torn and ragged clothing.

Some comrades responsible for guarding warehouses or transporting goods (rice, salt, cloth, clothing, pots,
and pans) for distribution to the people failed to take proper care of these items. Some warehouses were
flooded or leaked during rain, causing cloth to rot. In other places, reckless disposal of cigarette butts cau
-sed fires that burned down entire warehouses and all the materials inside. Some offices and units collected
many hoes, knives, machetes, and hatchets for their own exclusive use, while many people had no farming
tools at all and had to clear land with their bare hands. After using these tools, they left them scattered on
the ground, exposed to rain and sun, causing some to rust and others to be buried in rubbish. These were
some of the wrong activities committed by our revolutionary male and female youths in the past that seriously
harmed the people’s livelihood. These mistakes are very painful for all of us. We must therefore resolve to
eliminate them decisively so that they never happen again in our views, stances, or practices. III. Our Rev
-olutionary Male and Female Youths Must Personally Help Solve the People’s Livelihood Problems Directly
and Effectively We, the revolutionary male and female youths — whether serving in the military, offices,
ministries, work camps, or at the village, commune, and cooperative bases — are the servants of the people,
not their leaders or supervisors. We are the flesh and blood, the children of the people. Therefore, our material
conditions, spirit, and feelings must always be closely linked and united with those of the people in all circum
-stances, whether easy or difficult. When the people are hungry, we must feel pain in our hearts and immed
-iately take practical measures to help solve their problems with all our ability. If the people are still poor and
hungry and have not yet prospered, we must not live flashy, comfortable, or peaceful lives ahead of them. To
effectively participate in solving the people’s livelihood problems, our revolutionary male and female youths
must implement the following practical measures:

All revolutionary youths whose offices or ministries are located near the people and cooperatives should use
their free time after completing their main duties to work and eat directly with the cooperative members. When
working with the people, they should contribute their own food rations to the collective meal with the coop-
erative. Production work at their offices and ministries should be considered secondary. Revolutionary youths
working at the village, commune, base, and cooperative levels must go down to work directly with the coop
-erative members, live with them, and eat with them. They must not maintain a separate center or separate
food ration from the people. Those working in offices, ministries, and units located near the people can share
part of their food rations to help alleviate the people’s hunger. For example, if our rice ration is one and a half
cans per person, we can give half a can to the people. If our unit of 30 people receives 30 cans of salt per
month, we can contribute 5 or 10 cans of our collective salt ration to the people. Regarding production tools:
if our offices or units have many hoes, knives, machetes, and hatchets, we should give most of them to the
people and keep only a small number for our own use. This is because production at offices and ministries is
not aimed at reforming society or solving the people’s livelihood problems. It only partially supports the liveli
-hood of those in the offices. In contrast, production by the cooperative people is intended to reform society
and build the country, and therefore truly helps solve the people’s livelihood. Offices, ministries, or units that
have no direct connection with the people must strictly follow the ration set by the Party. Even if there is plenty
of food and materials in stock, we must understand that these are collective property allocated by the Party
for redistribution to the people and various units across the country. We must not use or distribute them
arbitrarily for ourselves or others without instruction.

Instead, we must carefully guard and protect these goods so they can eventually reach the hands of our
people. For personal and collective rations, we must use, eat, and wear them with the highest level of thr
-iftiness. Do not waste or neglect them. We must not assume that rations will always be distributed regularly.
We must maintain a highly economical mindset and save these resources for the benefit of the people.
If all our revolutionary male and female youths can follow these principles, we will be actively and effectively
sharing the burden with the Party in solving the people’s livelihood problems. In doing so, we will earn the
satisfaction and admiration of the people. We will also remain satisfied, confident, and firmly united with
our Party and revolution. Even if the enemy tries to infiltrate us or overthrow the revolutionary state, they
will fail — because all the people will stand firmly on our side. At the same time, our revolutionary youths
will have the opportunity to be tempered, tested, and educated through the intense revolutionary movement
while learning directly from the people. Therefore, our revolutionary male and female youths must treat
the task of solving the people’s livelihood as a daily duty. We must constantly link and unite our daily lives
with the lives of the people in all circumstances — whether easy or difficult.