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The lecture is based on my previous lectures as it is: Foundations of the theory of man’s development as a social being and in social life, under the guidance of the Juche Philosophy' and also, on actually writing book of the title:' Juche philosophy, as a reliable guide in social, political and personal life'
Starting point. Correlation between human life and the features of social life
Let's start from the important standpoint to this lecture, it is Karl Marx quotation:
'It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being,
but, on the contrary,
their social being that determines their consciousness'
( Karl Marx )
Social being with economical conditions, with human living conditions created by external factor is the determinant of consciousness. It is a very useful statement for this lecture, because it gives us one of the main standpoints. The level of being in matters to Juche basic values: independent, consciousness and creativity - is dependent on being. in this term, being of a man is influenced by various external factors ( geographical location, climate, financial and material level of an individual, culture and tradition ) and internal factors such as the degree of self - discipline, knowledge, life experience, etc.
We have no opportunity to influence external factors or we have a very limited influence only, contrary to internal factors and their level depends on us.
Features: independence, consciousness and creativity being the subject of research in this lecture are not idealistic values, no idealistic terms, but definitions of social processes and states in relation to the masses of people and the individual of man. These are neither idealistic beliefs nor religious ideals. Rather, these values are the result and a specific state of existence of a social situation of the man, of the life situation, which is a derivative of physicochemical processes in a human being.
These physicochemical processes in the minds of people are dependent on their existence, on their social being ( so, it proves Marx ) on objective external and subjective internal factors. It also proves the materialistic character of Juche idea.
In order to see the values of the Juche Idea in social life and this theory correlated to the Juche Idea, one must first understand what social life is.
Social life, as scientists explained, is, next to biological life, the basic domain of every human being. We come into the world among other people and we have interactions with others all the time in life.
Social life is the domain of the human being. Animals live in a certain community, although there is a certain hierarchy in it, there is no real and fully conscious, fully conscious relationship between group members.
On the other hand, human social life presupposes the formation of a so-called social bond, with certain permanent relationships. Social life has an impact on a few conditions: biological, geographical, economical and cultural. On the basis of social life an important role is played by the environment as well as economic foundations with the various forms of organizations that unite people to the social activities.
For example, the simple material forms of being alive are flowers. Flowers are also alive, but apart from whether they have any awareness ( scientific question ) at any small and limited level, they do not act consciously in their existence like humans.
Animals have a limited level of consciousness focused to fulfill their biological needs only and act according to instinct. However, in comparison to animals, the existence of a life form as flora and the plant world, is a lower level than the next and higher ladder of the evolution of the life of nature in animals.
Human with his mind is the original product of nature material's evolution and mind functions with the original way of working out us as the highest product of nature's evolution.
Now we move to wider explanations in relation to the man as a social being.
Maslow's pyramid of hierarchy of the human needs
In order to explaining by the graphic way how the three basic principles of the Juche Idea are implicated to progress to man for his development in the social life, in the start point we should bring 'Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs'. The hierarchy of the Russian scientist Maslow ( 1943 - 1954 ), in psychology shows us a five - tier model of human needs. The essential point taken to my theory is the argument, that if the lower human needs are fulfilled, man is start to aspire for fulfill his higher stage of needs.
We see that, if man is to have the lower stage needs fulfilled, he startsto achieve a higher level of his consciousness about being and aspire to a higher level of existence characterized by progress in creativity.
Whether a man is hungry and thirsty and without providing a place to live, sleep or clothes and other basic necessities, will think about other needs of the higher order such as culture, books or philosophical discussions. Of course not. The same if man has reached a higher level of the self - awareness as first in fulfilling the basic needs and growing consciousness is the ability to start making changes in order to transform the world in a creative way.
Now, I am going to make a similar to Maslow statement as the principle to my theory. To show graphically the above statements of my theory. So, as Maslow done with his hierarchy of needs, shows in the graphic structure of pyramid, I am going to put up side down the pyramid and we can see the scheme of emancipation man in participations for social life in terms to factors follow to Juche Idea.
'Process to shapes the life of the man in the Juche Idea in order to social life'
Maslow hierarchy of needs and Marx's quotation: 'It is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines their consciousness' is a starting point to understand correlations between features of Juche idea as features of the social life and man as a social being and also being at all.
These correlations are the relationships between the standard of living and features of human existence, along with the degree of satisfaction of his basic needs, as Maslow lists them, and the degree of development of social features discovered in Juche philosophy. There are relationships of mutual influence.
Maslow foresaw intellectual needs, but did not assign them to social life, which begins when the basic needs of a lower level from the Maslow's hierarchy described as a physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem with self - actualization are the limit, there are start to be a process of independent of the man as a social being in social life.
We can notice that the rotated pyramid as a graphic presentation is a cone. The rotated pyramid in the inner three fields of independence, consciousness and creativity opens wider and enlarges its area of fields in each one. This opening is a graphic symbol of the development of the social life of the man in correlation alike to the individual person and popular masses as whole society but on different scales. The least in the first field - independence as it is the introduction to the liberation of social life in meeting basic needs, and then through the growing level ( wider inner field of the cone ) of consciousness developing in the process of reaching the highest stage of creativity ( the highest and most open inner field of the cone ).
An arrow connecting individual areas of the stages of social life progress as independence, consciousness and creativity means development, a dialectical process of improving the social being of a man.
So, first is INDEPENDENCE. A man who is fully independent of objective conditions of the world, material conditions can start to aspire to higher needs. Independence gives theman an opportunity to grow his consciousness about himself and the world around him.
Only if all of five - tier human needs expressed by Maslow of him hierarchy are realized ( whether in which stage it is a different subject to research ) a man can start progress in processing his social life to next stage is consciousness, to be more consciousness in grow his self - awareness to world he is alive and all things around him.
Secondly, CONSCIOUSNESS as growing process from an independent life, when the first physiological, biological needs are completely fulfilled, makes man to the higher stage of being alive and from simple existential being to the first stages of the social being, it is as a grows consciousness and fulfilled to lower needs of man life he is starts to aspire for process of create his life to be better and transform the world to his needs in order to his life.
Thirdly, CREATIVITY is the last stage of the social being progress, in this stage a man can start participate to shape his destiny and be active in social life because is fully aware of his life in order not only to fulfill or stay to remain a useless thinker and creator of theories or views but as a practical participant to transform the world in realistic way. In the way to realize his happiness and to bring benefits for a better life.
The features of Juche philosophy, such as independence, consciousness and creativity, are stages of the development of social life, complement each other and result from one another in subsequent stages of development at the individual and collective level. Its determinants are the objective conditions in which society and individual human beings exist ad are influenced by the external objective factors.
The level of social life could be very high in a country like DPRK as we see why later on, or could be a minimal volume or not exist in society whatsoever. There is no contradiction to the man's features who is a social being from the time he is born. It is this dependence of this level of social life of an individual, each person, depends on other factors. But the man is the main factor. These factors are just not only as described generally conditions: geographical, cultural and economical. These factors are also as specified conditions are to be included in the characteristics of a human being as a social being, which just the Juche philosophy stressed out and guided us.
Three basic principles of Juche Idea, are the main values of this phenomenal pro - human philosophy and are features of the life of a social being. These are: independence, consciousness and creativity.
So, the essential features of man are independence, consciousness and creativity. These features qualify man as a social being not just a material being.
The social life and its level and intensity is expressed in the exposition of the philosophical principles of Juche in individual and collective life. Itaspect this requires every member of society to be aware of its creative power and independence as follows to Leader Kim Jong Il said:
'Proceeding from the philosophical principle,
that man occupies the position of master in the world,
and plays the decisive role in advancing the world,
and in shaping his own destiny, the Juche idea demands that man,
should always be regarded as the central factor,
that everything should be approached,
from an independent point of view,
and that all activities should be creative so,
as to contribute to enhancing the position and role of man'
( Kim Jong Il )
Does it mean, as man in capitalist society has no social life? No it does not mean like that. There is still any level of social life and participation for it, but it is limited.
These limitations arise from the exploitative nature of the economic system, which, by operating not for the satisfaction of human needs as the main goal, but for profit, creates barriers and limitations to the development of the social life of the individual and society as a whole.
In a society with a socialist system like the example of DPRK, what we see is that there is a positive correlation. This is a correlation between the rising standard of living of society and its growing prosperity and the positive development of social features that Juche idea lists as independence, creativity and conscious awareness.
Deriving from Marx's basic statement that 'social being that determines their consciousness', an increase in the quality of life in the area of full satisfaction of basic life needs translates into the growth and development of intellectual needs, an increase in the social characteristics of human existence and higher-order needs. This is only possible in a socialist system focused on man and his development. Where 'being' is understood as the existence of a human being in the objective external conditions of a given political system and the economy and culture associated with it, being - in the process of its positive development and ensuring all conditions for this development in objective conditions, results in the development of social features that discovers the philosophy of Juche, independence, creativity and consciousness.
In societies with liberal systems and a capitalist economic model, there is a negative correlation. The deterioration of living conditions for society also has a negative impact on the society's awareness of existence, and thus there is either regression or a very small development of social features discovered by the philosophy of Juche, independence, creativity and conscious awareness. Because basic human needs for 'being' are met insufficiently or inadequately. Higher-order needs, such as intellectual ones, to be satisfied must be at the expense of satisfying lower - order needs ( e.g. the dilemma of spending a small amounts of money on food or a book or participation in a concert or other cultural event, training, course to develop self ).
The social existence of a capitalist society is determined by the constant struggle to provide the basic conditions for survival that oscillate in the first phase of the development of society in its feature of independence.
Juche idea as the perfect builder of socialist society of the DPRK
How the Juche idea is working as the builder of Korean society?
Let's give question: Why, and how does the Juche idea find perfect expression in its effective works and efficiency in building a socialist state such as the DPRK?
Already from the beginnings of the Juche philosophy during the anti-Japanese liberation struggle led by Kim Il Sung, from the time of the announcement of the first principles of Juche at the meeting in Kalun in 1930, through the development of the Juche philosophy in the heat of the guerrilla struggle, the three factors and components of the Juche philosophy, independence, consciousness and creativity, the nature of which I described earlier, developed in Korean society under the influence of objective conditions, which was the struggle for liberation from the Japanese occupation.
Every struggle begins with a sense of independence and opposition to oppression and exploitation, the struggle in which people defend themselves against oppression and exploitation by the occupiers grows out of independence. This struggle in 1910 - 1945 where Korean society has to strive for social justice makes them independent. It is a fight for realizing one's own potential and the need for independent self-development, it builds and develops class consciousness, awareness which then creates and develops creativity.
After the war and liberation from the Japanese occupation, during the formation of the foundations of the new DPRK state, building the foundations of socialism in the years 1953 - 1970, the power of the Juche philosophy, its relationship in society moved towards the growth of self-consciousness and creativity, which was expressed in a disciplined and common the work of the entire society in building the foundations of a socialist society with its economy, culture and science
in the Juche philosophy in its works in the Korean society, depending on the objective conditions that dominated in a given historical period and thus influenced the social existence of the Korean society, it was reflected in a greater or lesser emanation of the factors of the Juche philosophy. Thus, during the liberation struggle during the Japanese occupation ( 1910 - 1945 ), the factor of independence combined with the growing class and national consciousness initiated an independent uprising of society in the organization ( and therefore creativity ) of resistance forces in the form of a partisan army, which later gave rise to the establishment of the Korean People's Army. All three factors of the Juche philosophy, independence, consciousness and creativity, have always worked, so to speak: interpenetrating each other, they always took part from the first factor of independence. I explained why this is so in the previous part of the lecture. Then, we can see how wonderfully these three factors complement each other and depend on each other.
DPRK society maintains a high level of social life at the level of smaller communities, local smaller communities and also in social life throughout the country. This is because Juche sets the basic directions for social life in order to guide the people's activities. The basic directions are basic values, fundamental principles as explained before.
Why is there a high level of participation in social life?
In DPRK hours to study is the system of social life that exists on a balanced schedule of daily life. It is eight hours of work, eight hours to rest and eight hours to study. It gives people a proper balance in life. The balance between work and free time is enriched for the third aspect of life: study time.
Comrade Kim Il Sung said:
'Our Party is now demanding that a system of working eight hours, studying eight hours and resting eight hours be established even for the workers. Intellectuals should naturally study harder...'
( Kim Il Sung )
In capitalist countries if we look into most of the working - class daily life, the balance is not exist.The time of daily life is dominated mostly by work, by working hours to get enough money in order to provide as much fulfillment ( sometimes not so even ), the basic needs like shows on the Maslow hierarchy of human needs, on the bottom of the pyramid. The more evaluated factors of life as a human and social being cannot be expressed and are suppressed and limited, dormant. This does not mean, of course, that man does not have these characteristics. They still exist but cannot develop and grow in the proper full way, in the liberated way, because lower stage needs like biological, physiological are the main determinant of their life. These activities like work to earn money and other strictest physiological and simple are focused in their life to fulfill these lower stage needs, it is to satisfaction lower stage needs dominate the everyday life of a person as a social being.
General Secretary Kim Jong Il said.
'Creativity is an attribute of humans,
the social being who transforms the world and shapes their destiny purposefully and consciously.'
( Kim Jong Il )
Thus, we can assume that the higher stage of the level of achievement of a particular stage of development, which are precisely the basic features of Juche: independence, consciousness and creativity - are expressed on the higher degree of man's participation in social life. The independence stays as a first and determines others. Each lower level determines the development of the next and is interrelated.
The start is always to independence them going through grows to consciousness to bring creativity. So we can say, the higher the level of satisfaction of the lower human needs explained by Maslov and,which are assigned to independence factor, the higher is the growth of self-awareness in consciousness factor and also the capacity of achieving a higher level of creativity factor running mutually with other two factors, running through to the man daily in order to social life activities, transforms and changes the world and adapts it to his needs.
The Juche philosophy is a perfect builder of society and a reliable guide for social life. This is because it is based on scientific knowledge of human nature, on the features of man that constitute his potential for development towards changing the world according to his needs, and it fully not only explains it but, also takes into account his features and possibilities.
Now we move to the last part of my lecture:
How the Peoples Korea society is implementingJuche values
in the practical way to the daily life?
Peoples Korea in applying the Juche in practice to society, sees the social lives of the popular masses as important. The popular masses are the subject for develops of the factors of the progress to processing social life.
Leader Kim Jong Il said:
'The activities of the popular masses for independent life assume a creative character. Man fills his vital needs through creative activity'
(Kim Jong Il )
So, people in DPRK are aware of their historical mission to their country and play a decisive role in creating a man - centredoutlook, to their life collectively and individually. They fill vital needs by being creatively active in social and economic country life. Popular masses are united by all individual needs and aspirations play a decisive role in their social life, realizing values of the Juche Philosophy every day. The main organisation to organize social life among the masses in the People's Korea is the political party - Workers Party of Korea.
Juche Philosophy, a philosophy that puts man in the centre of attention and its timeless values shaping their destiny and guides them on the road to achieve happiness and national prosperity for the DPRK.
Is the DPRK society fully independent, conscious and creative?
Yes it does. It does this by fully satisfying the basic human needs, not only psychophysical but also social, and therefore of a higher order.
Therefore, the three basic determinants of social life, which are also the basic principles of Juche Philosophy - independence, consciousness and creativity, only in conditions under socialist state system as DPRK is, can fully develop and shape man as a liberated social being in the process of transforming the world for his needs.
How does Juche Philosophy manifest itself and working in the social life of man?
It is by developing the main factors on a higher level as independence, consciousness and creativity in the process of developing socialist economy and man - centred policy where a man is the centre of everything and all is for man.
What can we discover and learn from the philosophy of Juche to become an active participant in social life, as the citizens of the People's Korea do in daily life?
We can constantly aspire and develop our consciousness and creativity according to the indications of Juche, even in a situation when living in a capitalist socio - economic system that limits our independence, we cannot fully satisfy the needs of the lower order.The scientific question is: taking into account the sum of individual volume of the level of independence, consciousness and creativity in the DPRK, the sum taken from each human beings exist in popular masses, the result is impressive as we see in the high level of the activity of the Peoples Korea Nation in social, political, economic and cultural life. Individual levels of man's achievement of expression with respect to independence, consciousness and creativity, may vary, but under conditions of socialist society they exceed ( for reasons explained in previous ) than of capitalist society.
However, it should be remembered that these are not measurable values. They can be estimated on the basis of, for example, the amount and effectiveness of people's participation in socio-political organizations or in the improvement and development of social and cultural life, which is confirmed by a higher level ( development of creativity ) of liberation and shaping of the human character by Juche Idea.
So, in conclusion, we can say, if a man is more independent and liberated, aware of himself and aware of the world in which he lives and if he is aware of his central and master position to transform his world to his needs - that more he is a social being, and more Juche's values can shape the character and personality of man in the pursuit of transforming the world and himself for the better life in every aspects, material, spiritual and other.
Also, we can say, the application of the values of Juche in personal life in correlation with others brings benefits not only to the individual, it also benefits society as a whole. It has an impact to better and more efficiently change the world that serves man better to his needs and benefits. To shape the world in order to man aspirations. It is for the good development of society - popular masses consist of individual members who are fully conscious, independent and creative, as they live with compliance with the Juche Idea and is also a massive benefit for the collective development society as a whole.
The revolutionary Juche Philosophy and its interactions / correlations with the popular masses between on basic fundamentals principles of the Juche Philosophy: independence, consciousness and creativity explains their progress and also brings to understanding a wider view of the aspect of works the Juche idea in DPRK society and the basic factors that determine that process as objective conditions. These objective conditions are constantly improving to the benefit of people, to the benefit of the entire society, which also has repercussions in the increasingly full participation of the entire Korean society in social life and thus the full development of the social features of Juche philosophy. Such achievements of Juche style socialism as free healthcare service, no taxes, free housing, and the same prices by decades are a reflection of the successive social development in its features and mutual correlations in the social life of Korean society, which disciplined and diligently follows the Juche path.
My lectureconfirms the thesis, that the revolutionary philosophy of Juche, is the philosophy to explain us social processes in popular masses under dialectical and universal laws as are the bases to Marxism - Leninist ideology too. It is because the standpoint is Marx. It also confirms the thesis, that the Juche revolutionary philosophy, explains the laws of social development, the laws of social life - that are followed by the masses of the people not only in the DPRK but in every society as capitalist society as well.
Just as Marxism - Leninism is guided and applied by historical materialism, the dialectic of history to the processes of development of societies in individual stages of development, the same objective and dialectical laws of nature determine the development of social life and expresses in different forms explained by Juche idea and my lecture.
Study Juche idea, it cost you nothing and pay plenty, as said by the late Dr Vishanwath.
And with this positive, optimistic punchline - I will end my today's lecture.
Thank you for your attention and listening
