------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the June 28, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- KIM JONG IL EMPHASIZES IDEOLOGY: DPRK LEADER'S VIEWS ON SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION By Deirdre Griswold The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has withstood over 50 years of unrelenting military hostility from U.S. imperialism, including a war that killed some three million of its people. Over the last decade, it made the transition to a new leadership under arduous economic conditions caused by natural disasters and the collapse of the socialist bloc led by the Soviet Union. With all this, the North Korean leaders have held firmly to the socialist course and have rallied the people to defend their independence and sovereignty. What has made all this possible? In a pamphlet entitled "Giving Priority to Ideological Work Is Essential for Accomplishing Socialism," published in 1995 by the Foreign Language Publishing House in Pyongyang, the present leader, Kim Jong Il, explains the views of the Korean leadership. Anyone wanting to understand the amazing resiliency of this besieged nation should read this pamphlet. Here are some excerpts from Kim's work. ON THE IMPORTANCE OF IDEOLOGICAL WORK: "For a working-class party, which struggles for the masses' independence, no undertaking is more important than ideological work. The working-class party is by nature a leading political organization which awakens the popular masses on the strength of ideology, and which organizes them for the revolution and construction. Ideology is the only and the most powerful weapon of the working-class party. Only when it holds fast to ideology as the main factor and does ideological work before all other work can the working- class party fulfill its mission and duty as the leading political organization which sets the pace for the masses' independence. "Without ideological work, it would be impossible for socialism to emerge, exist and develop. Capitalism, an exploiting system which replaced feudal subordination with subordination by capital, grew up within the framework of feudal society; but socialism, a new system, radically different from all the exploiting systems, cannot grow up within the framework of capitalist society. Socialist ideology emerges as a reflection of the class demand of the exploited working masses who fight against domination by capital. The socialist system is born of the struggle of the popular masses who are awakened to socialist ideology." ON ECONOMIC RELATIONS: "Socialist economic relations are the economic, material basis of socialist ideology. Socialist economic relations, whose major component is socialist ownership, provide the popular masses with material conditions for them to acquire and consolidate socialist ideology. Therefore, the consolidation and development of socialist economic relations have a major effect on equipping the popular masses with socialist ideology. The socio-economic basis for the emergence of outmoded ideas disappears with the establishment of the socialist system. "However, ideological, technological and cultural backwardness handed down from the old society and various other related vestiges remain for a historical period. These serve as a hotbed for the growth of non-socialist ideological elements. To solidly arm all members of socialist society with socialist ideology, we must preserve socialist ownership. We must steadily consolidate and develop socialist economic relations, and gradually overcome the vestiges of the old society which remain in socio- economic relations and many other areas of social life. "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. Private ownership inevitably gives birth to individualism and bourgeois ideas inevitably grow and spread on the soil of capitalist ownership and the capitalist market economy. Socialism is incompatible with private ownership and the capitalist market economy." ON BOURGEOIS 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 and people's interests conflict, one ideology cannot hold undivided sway and it is inevitable that different ideas exist. The imperialists and their mouthpieces claim the 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 of propaganda and education such as the mass media are in the hands of monopoly capitalists and reactionary rulers. The reactionary bourgeois ruling class tolerates progressive 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.... "Imperialists and renegade socialists abuse the ideological education carried out in socialist society as 'regimentation' and 'ideological indoctrination.' This is an absurd fabrication which throws mud at socialism. It is a falsehood aimed at justifying the deceptive and reactionary nature of bourgeois propaganda. "Socialist ideology develops the masses into independent people who are conscious of their independence and creative ability, while reactionary bourgeois ideas reduce them to servants who obey the domination of capital. ..." ON BUREAUCRACY: "[W]e must intensify the struggle against abuse of power and bureaucracy, corruption and irregularities among cadres. These evils are products of an exploitative society; they are rooted in individualism and selfishness. In socialist society, they cannot be tolerated. In socialist society, a cadre is not a bureaucrat lording it over people but their servant. If abuses of power and bureaucracy, corruption and irregularities are allowed to spread among cadres, this will crack the unity and cohesion of the party and popular masses, and prevent socialism from displaying its vitality." ON 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." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. 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