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The Historical Lesson in Building Socialism
These three works by Kim Jong Il, grappling with the problem of why socialism fell, mainly in the revisionist countries of the USSR and Eastern Europe, and how to avoid it in Korea, are worthy of discussion and this is the reason for reprinting them. He analyses that socialism fell because those countries gave up the superstructure, ideological and cultural work; that is, they believed social relations and productive forces would do this work by themselves. They, therefore, allowed the party and state to degenerate while turning to revisionism and collaborating with the imperialists after the death of Stalin. The unwavering faith in socialism displayed here amidst the bourgeois-imperialist offensive against it is the main thing, including his comments on the importance of the Pyongyang Declaration, which called on all communists to defend the revolution. The third work, “Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable”, presents a defence against the claims commonly made against socialism by way of accusing it of barbarity and crimes against humanity. The sections “The Validity of the General Line of Our Party Concerning the Construction of Socialism and Communism” and “The Basic Principles of the Building of a Juche Revolutionary Party” work out the line that needs to be carried out to further the revolution in Korean conditions and prevent counter-revolution.
There are some odd, and in our view, incorrect formulations, such as the claims that Marxism itself was at fault for the fall of socialism and that it has “historical limitations” in the building of socialism by way of being outmoded; or that the state will not wither away; or that each socialist country should have its own guiding ideology and not all countries one universal ideology.
But nevertheless, in the introduction Comrade Hardial Bains says that these works clearly state that socialism was not disproven as the bourgeoisie and the revisionists claim, but temporarily defeated, in retreat. The trend of our epoch is objectively towards socialism — “All roads lead to communism!”
There are some odd, and in our view, incorrect formulations, such as the claims that Marxism itself was at fault for the fall of socialism and that it has “historical limitations” in the building of socialism by way of being outmoded; or that the state will not wither away; or that each socialist country should have its own guiding ideology and not all countries one universal ideology.
But nevertheless, in the introduction Comrade Hardial Bains says that these works clearly state that socialism was not disproven as the bourgeoisie and the revisionists claim, but temporarily defeated, in retreat. The trend of our epoch is objectively towards socialism — “All roads lead to communism!”
167 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 1992
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About the author
Kim Jong Il
99 books38 followersThe Supreme Leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea from 1994 to 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 2, 2023
Its Juche we're talking about so the five stars go without saying <3
I think this is a very foundational juche texts that was written at a very difficult time for socialists in the entire world after the fall of the USSR and the eastern bloc. Kim Jong Il recognizes this and states that it is an urgent historical task to learn a lesson from this and to reconstruct the socialist movement on a new basis so the cause of socialism can be led to an upsurge again.
The path to socialism is an untrodden path, it is a thorny path as the frustration of socialism and the revival of capitalism in some countries when viewed in the light of the main tide of historical development, is only a temporary and local phenomenon and it would be wrong to consider that this was brought about only by external factors. When anything is wrong with us we must find the reason in ourselves, not elsewhere, as Kim Jong Il writes very correctly.
KJI once again portrays a short historical review and critique of the development of scientific socialism in the sense that:
Marxism is the doctrine which clarified the conditions for realizing the liberation of the working class on the basis of the materialistic conception of history. Marxism explained how the relations of production develop with the development of productive forces, that the economic system , the whole of production relations, foms the basis of society and that the superstructure stands on the basis. On this premise Marxism viewed the mode of production of material wealth to be the decisive factor defining the character of society and the level of its development.
Those who had failed to rid themselves of the dogmatic understanding of this existing theory viewed the nature and superiority of socialist society as not being defined by the popular masses who had the socialist idea but as being defined by socialist government and by the socialist relations of ownership. They also sought the driving force of socialist construction in the economic factor, namely in the adaptation of the production relations of the productive forces, Kim Jong Il writes (China comes to mind here). Nevertheless, these political and economic conditions themselves are not the decisive factor in promoting the development of socialism. It is the working masses who are directly responsible for production, who play a leading and active role in their development, unless the voluntary enthusiasm and creative power of the working masses are increased , it is impossible to develop the productive forces at a steady high rate even tho the socialist relations of production have been established. This was true for many socialist countries that were not China, USSR and the DPRK.
KJI also criticizes indirectly the CPSU and the International by stating how in the past, the party of a "certain country" claimed to be the centre of the international communist movement and ordered other parties to do this or that. The parties of some countries yielded to that pressure of the great powers and acted under the baton of others which resulted to the accepting revisionism thus accepting "reform" and restructuring", stating specifically how in the soviet union and Eastern Europe socialism was frustrated.
Kim Jong Il, on elaborating the central idea of Juche, again states how we must not view society with the stress on the material conditions as vulgar Marxists do, but instead view it with the people as the centre. Nor we musts view the process of socialist development as a process of natural history but as a result of the independent and creative activities of the popular masses, the driving force of social movement.
Another significant difference between the preceding theory of Marxism-Leninism and the Juche idea is how they both view the nature of the State. Kim Jong Il elucidates very elegantly:
There are also many interesting parallels to how China developed with the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics which is important to note how different and contrary they are yet as both SWCC and Juche accept, each country must scientifically and creatively and not dogmatically construct socialism in their own way and not follow others blindly, and both China and Korea did and still do exactly that in their own respective ways and we must study and learn from both working examples of socialism.
5/5
I think this is a very foundational juche texts that was written at a very difficult time for socialists in the entire world after the fall of the USSR and the eastern bloc. Kim Jong Il recognizes this and states that it is an urgent historical task to learn a lesson from this and to reconstruct the socialist movement on a new basis so the cause of socialism can be led to an upsurge again.
The path to socialism is an untrodden path, it is a thorny path as the frustration of socialism and the revival of capitalism in some countries when viewed in the light of the main tide of historical development, is only a temporary and local phenomenon and it would be wrong to consider that this was brought about only by external factors. When anything is wrong with us we must find the reason in ourselves, not elsewhere, as Kim Jong Il writes very correctly.
KJI once again portrays a short historical review and critique of the development of scientific socialism in the sense that:
Marxism is the doctrine which clarified the conditions for realizing the liberation of the working class on the basis of the materialistic conception of history. Marxism explained how the relations of production develop with the development of productive forces, that the economic system , the whole of production relations, foms the basis of society and that the superstructure stands on the basis. On this premise Marxism viewed the mode of production of material wealth to be the decisive factor defining the character of society and the level of its development.
Those who had failed to rid themselves of the dogmatic understanding of this existing theory viewed the nature and superiority of socialist society as not being defined by the popular masses who had the socialist idea but as being defined by socialist government and by the socialist relations of ownership. They also sought the driving force of socialist construction in the economic factor, namely in the adaptation of the production relations of the productive forces, Kim Jong Il writes (China comes to mind here). Nevertheless, these political and economic conditions themselves are not the decisive factor in promoting the development of socialism. It is the working masses who are directly responsible for production, who play a leading and active role in their development, unless the voluntary enthusiasm and creative power of the working masses are increased , it is impossible to develop the productive forces at a steady high rate even tho the socialist relations of production have been established. This was true for many socialist countries that were not China, USSR and the DPRK.
KJI also criticizes indirectly the CPSU and the International by stating how in the past, the party of a "certain country" claimed to be the centre of the international communist movement and ordered other parties to do this or that. The parties of some countries yielded to that pressure of the great powers and acted under the baton of others which resulted to the accepting revisionism thus accepting "reform" and restructuring", stating specifically how in the soviet union and Eastern Europe socialism was frustrated.
Kim Jong Il, on elaborating the central idea of Juche, again states how we must not view society with the stress on the material conditions as vulgar Marxists do, but instead view it with the people as the centre. Nor we musts view the process of socialist development as a process of natural history but as a result of the independent and creative activities of the popular masses, the driving force of social movement.
Another significant difference between the preceding theory of Marxism-Leninism and the Juche idea is how they both view the nature of the State. Kim Jong Il elucidates very elegantly:
"Since it
defined state power as a weapon of dictatorship for class
domination, the preceding theory identified the essential difference
between the government of the exploiting classes and socialist
government as lying mainly in the difference between their class
character, and it considered that a socialist state would wither
away once class domination was unnecessary after a classless
society was built. This view is incompatible with the practice of
socialist and communist construction. The old state as a tool of
class domination is destroyed in the socialist revolution, and the
newly-established socialist government is a new state political
organization whose mission it is to coordinate the independent and
creative activities of the popular masses, who have become the
masters of society, and all the fields of society. The unified leading
function of the socialist state should be further intensified as the
building of socialism and communism progresses; this function
will be needed in communist society as well. Therefore, socialist
power will never wither away, and the matter of power will
remain the most important matter not only at the stage of the
socialist revolution but also during the whole historical period of
socialist and communist construction."
There are also many interesting parallels to how China developed with the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics which is important to note how different and contrary they are yet as both SWCC and Juche accept, each country must scientifically and creatively and not dogmatically construct socialism in their own way and not follow others blindly, and both China and Korea did and still do exactly that in their own respective ways and we must study and learn from both working examples of socialism.
5/5
April 17, 2024
(3.5) A good little overview of the North Korean project right after the fall of the Soviet Union, although very didactic and repetitive (even for a speech). The intro to the November8 edition as a speech by the leader of Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) Hardial Bains in Pyongyang is a great touch that shows a history of international solidarity that the Imperialist world wants us to forget (in the last 35 years, that is). Over 70 delegations were at the original 1992 event and 235 political parties signed the Pyongyang Declaration. The speech by Bains was given five years later. Nevertheless, the original speeches by Kim are well-written, giving unique views on ideology, one of the best definitions of the mass line, and a great account of the barrage of imperialist propaganda to come. His view on ideology aligns with Mao's critique of Stalin but perhaps emphasizes the existence of 'socialist ideology' too much, at times even saying it is the sole guarantee of socialist construction. This is his great definition of the mass line: "Correct leadership will be ensured when the leader mixes with the masses at all times, listens to their opinions and solves everything by relying on their strength, and the leader who has such people-oriented leadership qualities is a true leader of the people. Disregarding the opinions of the people and not believing in their strength are the traits of a renegade. If such a renegade holds power, the misfortune the people will suffer will be immeasurable. The greatest misery for people is to have the wrong leader" (88). Lastly, the section titled "Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable," the dissection of how and why Western imperialists will use phrases like "totalitarian," "barracks-like," and "administrative and commanding" to denigrate the DPRK's achievements, despite its impossible position, is analyzed very well. Kim was right on almost every front here, and such propaganda still exists today, becoming more absurd and ridiculous as I write this review (haircut restrictions, brainwashing rhetoric, etc.)--even if Kim Jong Un has renounced Marxism and Communism by officially discarding them from the constitution... Shall we see the day when the Korean peoples can be united again and Western Imperialism defeated.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews