Spring is here . 40 years ago in the spring of 1982 the great leader comrade KIM JONG IL published the immortal classic treatise ‘ ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ , this was like a ray of spring sunshine shining brightly and breaking the gloom of modern revisionism , opportunism , dogmatism and flunkeyism to big powers .
ON THE JUCHE IDEA written and published at a time when the damage caused by modern revisionism in the socialist countries as well as the limitations of classical Marxist Leninist theories became apparent . It had long been asserted by some that once the socialist revolution liquidated exploitation and oppression by capital and established the social ownership of the means of production , distribution and exchange then everything would be plain sailing and socialism would be built . However, entering the early 1980s serious trouble occurred in one socialist country led by a revisionist leadership; strikes and disturbances occurred . In other socialist countries the rate of economic growth slowed down . Some socialist countries betrayed revolutionary principles by joining the International Monetary Fund .
However , in the far East , one socialist country upheld revolutionary principles and advanced along the road of self-reliance. That country was People’s Korea guided by the great Juche Idea and led by the great leader President KIM IL SUNG . As the Korean revolution developed and socialist construction the need arose for the all round and comprehensive systematisation of the Juche Idea which had been first authored by President KIM IL SUNG . Comrade KIM JONG IL answered this need by publishing the thesis ‘ ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ which was originally a paper sent to the National Seminar for the 70th birthday of President KIM IL SUNG in March 1982.
“ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ is the definitive work on the Juche Idea . Rather than give a detailed summary of the work I would actually recommend people go and study it themselves.
I first read the work in the late 1980s and reread it several times . It is an extremely powerful work packed full of complex and intense ideas but presented in a simple and clear form . Some have seeked to make ideology and theory as something mysterious or remote or that can only be understood by the few but comrade KIM JONG IL rejected this approach and presented the Juche idea not only in a systematic form but in a way that could be understood by all .
There are many remarkable things about this work which is like an encyclopaedia of the Juche Idea . Time does not allow me to mention all of them . I think the first time I read the work what caught my attention was the emphasis on the independent stand . Comrade KIM JONG IL considered the independent stand , along with the creative method , as one of the central pillars of the Juche idea . He defined the independent stand thus “ . The independent stand is a thoroughly revolutionary stand, the working-class stand. The working class is the most independent class which struggles to emancipate itself by its own initiative and to become the master of its own destiny. The cause of socialism and communism is the historic cause of the working class, aimed at completely realizing the independence of the masses of the people. Any stands which are contrary to the independent stand are alien to the working-class stand, the stand of the popular masses, and they are all harmful to the cause of socialism and communism.”
The idea that the working class is the most independent class captured my attention . Moreover during the late 1980s ,events showed how important taking the independent stand is and how damaging it is to depend on others . Many communists had worshipped the former USSR oblivious to the fact that it had become revisionist in the late 50s and early 1960s . They saw the USSR as the be all and end all of revolutionary communism . However in the late 80s the USSR introduced ‘perestroika ‘ and ‘glasnost ‘ , which was basically counter-revolution , the destruction of socialism . The rot quickly spread to other socialist countries which fell down like skittles . The DPRK however was not affected by this and held high the red flag of socialism . This was because it had maintained an independent stand in the revolution .
Today ‘ON THE JUCHE IDEA ‘ remains as valid as it was when it was published 40 years ago , in fact it is even more valid than ever before. ON JUCHE IDEA is a great textbook that gives inspiration , courage and strength to fight imperialism and capitalism .As was once said ‘ study the Juche idea , it will cost nothing but pay in plenty ‘.
Dr Dermot Hudson
Chairman , British Group for the Study of the Juche Idea ,
Chairman Korean Friendship Association UK.
President Association for the Study of Songun Politics UK
No comments:
Post a Comment