Twenty
years ago the great leader Comrade Kim
Jong Il, the
successor to the great leader comrade Kim Il Sung ,wrote the classic
work
“Giving
Priority to Ideological Work Is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism
“.
This
work was written in the period some four years after the collapse of
socialism in the former USSR and some other socialist countries.
At
the time there was much soul searching as well as apprehension amongst
supporters of socialism. Why was socialism frustrated? What can be
done to successfully build socialism and avoid the pitfall of the
restoration of capitalism? People racked their brains. Why they asked
, what had had gone wrong ?
Although
this a short work it contains very powerful ideas .
Comrade
Kim
Jong Il, with
remarkable clairvoyant theoretical wisdom, provided the answers in
his work. Comrade Kim
Jong Il explained
the reason for the frustration of socialism in a nutshell
“The
most serious lesson of the collapse of socialism in several countries
is that the corruption of socialism begins with ideological
corruption, and that a break-down on the ideological
front results in the crumbling of all socialism’s “fronts and
ends in the total ruin of socialism.
The
above quote is very true . In many socialist countries the ideology
of socialism became corrupted . After the 20th
Congress of the CPSU in the USSR some socialist countries moved to
the Right and greatly downplayed ideological work which in turn led
to setbacks on other fronts such as the the economy . I witnessed
this when I visited Hungary in 1988 and 1989 there was a complete
absence of any kind of socialist ideological work. One the
ideological front of socialism crumbles then all other fronts crumble
and socialism is frustrated and collapses.
Socialism
is completely different to capitalism and cannot grow up within the
framework of capitalism as it is a new idea that rejects the
exploitation of human by human. Socialism of course fully reflects
the class demand of the working class .
One
of the things that impressed me about this work when I read it the
first time was the profoundly robust and combative defence of
socialism and the role of ideological work under socialism which is
all the time attacked by the imperialists as “indoctrination “
“regimentation” etc. Comrade Kim Jong Il tears this apart
“The
basic task of ideological work in socialist society is to colour the
whole ofsociety
with socialist ideology.
The
development and consummation of socialist society is nothing other
than the transformation
of all realms of social life as required by socialist ideology. Themost
important task in this regard is arming all members of society with
socialist ideology,
in order to colour the whole of society with a single ideology.
Ideologicalwork
in socialist society must serve the purpose of colouring the whole of
society with
socialist ideology.
In
any society, the ruling class tries to bring about the unchallenged
predominance of
its own ideology. In capitalist society, where the society is split
into classes andPeoples
interests conflict, one ideology cannot hold undivided sway and it isinevitable
that different ideas exist. The imperialists and their mouthpieces
claimthe
existence of these ideas is a source of pride for the “free world
“
However,progressive
ideas can never develop freely in capitalist society, where the
means ofpropaganda
and education such as the ma ss media are in the hands of monopolycapitalists
and reactionary rulers. The reactionary bourgeois ruling class
toleratesprogressive
ideas to some extent, to make capitalist society seem democratic; but when
they are considered the slightest threat to its ruling system, it
mercilessly suppresses
them. Outwardly, different thoughts appear to be tolerated in
capitalist
society,
but all kinds of thoughts throughout it are, without exception, none
otherthan
various forms and expressions of bourgeois ideology. The freedom of
ideology talked about by imperialists is a deceptive slogan to dress
upunder the signpost of freedom their oppression of progressive
ideas in capitalist
society
and their resorting to every method to propagate reactionary
bourgeois ideas.
It is a deceptive slogan to justify their ideological and cultural
infiltration into
other
countries”
This
is one of the most brilliant expositions of the role of ideology
under socialism and capitalism that I have ever read . Although
capitalist society may appear pluralistic and democratic outwardly
because of the existence of many different ideas in fact they are
but a reflection of bourgeois ideology we can see this apparent in
some so-called parties that call themselves communist or socialist
but attack countries like the DPRK and continually prettify
imperialism.
In
the work, Comrade Kim
Jong Il turns
his attention to the dangers to socialism posed by revisionism
“Revisionism
is a counter-revolutionary, opportunist ideological trend which
emasculates socialism’s revolutionary principles. The greatest harm
of revisionism is that it denies the position and role of the party
and leader in the revolution and construction; it weakens the role of
socialist power, creates illusions about capitalism and disarms
people ideologically. In the long run, revisionism abandons socialism
and leads to capitalism. We must have a clear understanding of the
reactionary nature of revisionism and its dangers, and must strongly
oppose and reject all sorts of revisionist trend”
This
is a very apt but trenchant expose of revisionism and the reactionary
role in plays in destroying socialism. It was revisionism that
brought down socialism in many countries of the world . Comrade Kim
Jong
Il
sees straight through it and correctly calls for the Korean people
and WPK to reject and oppose all forms of revisionism.
The
great leader comrade Kim Jong Il clearly defines the nature of
socialism pointing out that
“Socialism
is incompatible with private ownership and the capitalist market
economy.”
This
deals a telling blow against those who advocate “reform” and
“opening up “ and the So-called
“plurality of ownership. Therefore socialist ownership of the means
of production must be consolidated. If this is not done comrade Kim
Jong Il warns that
If
remnants of old society in socialist society are encouraged to grow,
or capitalist economic management methods are introduced into
socialist economic management, or worse still, if capitalist
ownership is revived by encroaching upon socialist ownership, this
will result in the economic, material basis of socialist ideology
being pulled down, and conditions created for the growth of
individualism, selfishness and other bourgeois ideas
.
Another danger is the infiltration of bourgeois culture and ideology
by the imperialists but Comrade Kim Jong Il is acutely aware of this;
“Through
their ideological and cultural infiltration into other countries, the
imperialists are working ceaselessly to affect people with
ideological diseases, disintegrate those countries from within and
then put them under their domination and control. The imperialists’
ideological and cultural infiltration is a way for them to be
aggressive and to intervene under the guise of “cooperation” and
“exchange”. It is a vicious means of counter-revolutionary
subversion, by which to paralyze people’s sound ideological
consciousness and to corrupt and make people degenerate by means of
reactionary bourgeois ideological poison.”
These
days the imperialists desperately try to destroy socialism by
infiltrating degenerate Western pop culture into socialism and
through so-called “ exchange”. It was once said Comrade
Kim Jong Il correctly says that the simple but effective remedy to
the maladies of
revisionism and bourgeois ideological and cultural infiltration is to
imbue people thoroughly with socialist ideology, Thus the socialist
state must give priority to ideological work.
Therefore
the work “Giving Priority
to Ideological Work Is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism “ is
a most invaluable work that gives answers to key questions in
building socialism and should be studied by all .
Dermot Hudson
Chairman JISGE
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