Essay:What Juche Explains About the Spiritual Life of Humanity

== Introduction == THIS ESSAY IS UNDERGOING CONSTRUCTION

On the other hand, it is possible to emphasize the common characteristics shared by different societies at the same general stage of development and, from this base, define a communal and a tributary culture, just as I have identified a communal and a tributary stage. It is then possible to situate specific components within the framework of these general categories. My hypothesis is that all tributary cultures are based upon the preeminence of the metaphysical aspiration, by which I mean the search for absolute truth. This religious or quasireligious character of the dominant ideology of tributary societies responds to an essential requirement of the social reproduction of these societies. By contrast, the culture of capitalism is founded upon the renunciation of this metaphysical aspiration in favor of a search for partial truths. Simultaneously, the ideology peculiar to the new society acquires a dominant economistic content necessary for the social reproduction of capitalism. By "economism," I mean that economic laws are considered as objective laws imposing themselves on society as forces of nature, or, in other words, as forces outside of the social relationships peculiar to capitalism.

This shifting of the center of gravity of the dominant ideology from the sphere of what I call metaphysical alienation (or religious alienation, or even alienation from nature) to the sphere of market alienation (peculiar to economism) constitutes the core of the cultural revolution that ensures the passage from the tributary period to the Age of Capital. This revolution certainly does not suppress metaphysical aspirations or religion. But it adapts religion to the new world, relying on religion’s inherent flexibility, and represses it outside of the field of the legitimation of the social order. The cultural revolution of capitalism always includes, as a result, a particular side effect: It is also a religious revolution, a revolution in the interpretation of religion.

— Samir Amin, https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Library:Eurocentrism

Since cosmology is an important part of localizing Marxism for indigenous cultures, locating cosmology within the previous Marxist authors can shed light on areas where cosmology plays a cultural influence in the production of Marxist theory

Comparative religion is a real subject of study: https://www.harvard.edu/programs/comparative-study-of-religion/

In the work How to Be a Good Communist by Liu Shaoqi, the author cites Taoist influences and authors to make his points from a Marxist standpoint and also Confucian ones. It is obvious that the CPC were doing great work in localizing their own Marxist theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics. And everyone can learn from that example.

But I find it especially useful and necessary given how Marxist theorists we study tend to have their own cultural style, and rigorous study of Marxism does create a degree of real alienation from one's peers within a culture simply because we are looking at foreign influences for scientific socialism, however it can be mitigated by learning to localize Marxist theory to local conditions and cultural themes. Which a good Marxist should be doing to make the theory widely accessible. This localization has specifically been accomplished in Africa and Iran, as well as the PRC, DPRK, Laos, and Vietnam.

When we study Marxist theory, we should study it for the science and recognize which parts are science and which parts are cultural flair. We shouldn't reflexively internalize the cultural flair or bias of a socialist author or socialist country simply because of what they say or do being correct, Marxism is not a subculture.

In my culture, bourgeois norms were imposed by colonialism. Now, since the past 500 years my society has changed to fit bourgeois norms. Marxists should take the values of the past to push resistance of proletarian values. For Marxists, praising the proletarian values within one's own culture would be an important practice in localizing Marxist theory, and every good Marxist is capable of that. And I believe it is key to the successful spread of Marxism. This also fits into Mao's discussion of good Communists being patriots. A good Communist loves his native culture. That means cosmology is a part of it. Every communist in the world has their own specific cultural contexts and we are united by the immortal science

As it turns out, the spiritual life of humans is the decisive factor in whether socialism can combat bourgeois interference, and therefore sustain itself. By this, I am not suggesting the worldview of the espiritista, nor of the mechanical man. I am not advocating Christianity, or other religions. Anyone who has meditated could see what I mean. What I am referring to are practices that most from an outside perspective would see as simply cultural and probably physiological or psychological. But this is wrong as well, there's an energetic force that bends to the laws of the universe (like gravity) that has yet to be explained in modern terms and that is what I am trying to describe.

Worse still, there are some who make idealist interpretations, or dogmatic interpretations, and some who simply regurgitate things mechanically. Wherever this is the case, I would do what Marx did with Hegel. It is a material question, but I lack the proper words to explain it any other way. There is currently no established international, intercultural vernacular that I can use. This is the outcome of settler colonialism which has underdeveloped our people and marginalized our traditions and our cultural development, so forgive my incomprehensibility, but we have to start somewhere. I am trying to rescue something from the bourgeoisie. Only Marxist writers, who wrote very little on it except in a passing comment, seem to comprehend it. And it is from what they are gesturing at, that I will make my case. In all mention of spirituality, I counterpose it to religion or "dogmatic spirituality". In other words, spirituality in its correct form is without dogma, it does not demand or require you to believe (or suspend disbelief), it is not a form of mental enslavement but quite the opposite, it is an "emancipation of the mind", so to speak. Whether it could be defined as "methods of indirect knowledge or wisdom acquisition", I am not yet sure, but modern scientists routinely confirm things that wisdom keepers already knew. We cannot dispense with it.

Due to the uneven development of the world, all religions evolved differently, and materialist spirituality - a close relative of philosophy - was their starting point, their source material, the rational kernel of wisdom from which illusion sprang. This is why, originally, "spiritual" people were the wise ones. Not all peoples developed the same irrational thought patterns at the exact same time. Instead, all religions are created as a result of class contradictions. As class contradictions emerged, so did faith and irrationality. Idealism, or dogma, is injected into the basic "spiritual" (for lack of a better word) practices that already existed during the original communism period. Such practices developed from humanity's long years of experience on this planet, and although are now culturally differentiated, the basic essence belongs to no one in particular, but only to human's continuous interaction and reflection of the world and its effect on his "spirit", consciousness, energy, and so on (again, language barrier), and this influencing human's activities. In order to demonstrate the connection between "spirituality" (for lack of a better phrase) and Marxism and Juche, I'll reference On some problems of the ideological foundation of socialism by Kim Jong Il, and also Fundamental Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politzer, and various observations by Stalin. I hope the reader will see the historic contribution of the Juche idea, not only to Korean society but all human societies. Juche affects many aspects of life, and I am only writing about this one aspect. I'll tell you how I draw upon it to bring an international character to some perspectives arising from within my own society. I write this for them, who are wondering what socialism can do for them.

A Brief History of the Struggle Against Idealism

The quotes are self-explanatory. Idealism, an expression of dogmatism, is to be struggled against precisely because it keeps humanity from reaching enlightened consciousness.

Further, if nature, being, the material world, is primary, and consciousness, thought, is secondary, derivative; if the material world represents objective reality existing independently of the consciousness of men, while consciousness is a reflection of this objective reality, it follows that the material life of society, its being, is also primary, and its spiritual life secondary, derivative, and that the material life of society is an objective reality existing independently of the will of men, while the spiritual life of society is a reflection of this objective reality, a reflection of being.

Hence, the source of formation of the spiritual life of society, the origin of social ideas, social theories, political views and political institutions, should not be sought for in the ideas, theories, views and political institutions themselves, but in the conditions of the material life of society, in social being, of which these ideas, theories, views, etc., are the reflection.

Hence, if in different periods of the history of society different social ideas, theories, views and political institutions are to be observed; if under the slave system we encounter certain social ideas, theories, views and political institutions, under feudalism others, and under capitalism others still, this is not to be explained by the "nature," the "properties" of the ideas, theories, views and political institutions themselves but by the different conditions of the material life of society at different periods of social development.

(...) It does not follow from Marx's words, however, that social ideas, theories, political views and political institutions are of no significance in the life of society, that they do not reciprocally affect social being, the development of the material conditions of the life of society. We have been speaking so far of the origin of social ideas, theories, views and political institutions, of the way they arise, of the fact that the spiritual life of society is a reflection of the conditions of its material life. As regards the significance of social ideas, theories, views and political institutions, as regards their role in history, historical materialism, far from denying them, stresses the important role and significance of these factors in the life of society, in its history.

— J.V. Stalin

We read in some UNESCO brochures that peace can only be guaranteed by the "pacification of minds" and that if we want to end war, it is necessary to kill it in the minds of the people. . In short, the cause of wars is subjective. Or, the psychoanalysts would say, it is an “instinct of aggression” lurking in the consciousness of every man. Or ... “hereditary hatred”.

Such a conception of the causes of war is idealistic. The position of marxist materialism is quite different: the cause of wars is in the objective reality of societies. In the era of imperialism, wars originate from economic crises which lead to the search by violence for new outlets. It is thus an objective law, the law of maximum profit, which explains wars. As for the subjective process (the idea of ​​war, hatred, the instinct for aggression, etc.), it originates precisely from the material contradictions which create an objective situation of war. It is objective reality which explains the appearance of the subjective process. And not the reverse.

(...) The oldest and most obscurantist thesis is the religious, theological thesis. She sees in the material life of societies a reflection of the divine idea, the realization of a providential plan. The "social order" is willed by God. Just as, according to theologians, the nature and spirit of man are immutable, so any change in society is impious, sacrilegious; change is demonic since it is an attack on the will of God, any idea of ​​change is guilty. A consequence of this point of view is clericalism: only the clergy, depositary of God's designs, can guarantee "social order". Perfectly adapted to feudal society, this thesis was opposed by the revolutionary bourgeoisie.

Then comes an idealist thesis of bourgeois essence, developed in particular by the philosophers of the 18th century French. They fought against "divine right" in the name of "natural law", "natural religion", Reason. They taught that the feudal order is disorder because it does not conform to the requirements of Reason, the image of which each man finds in himself. It is therefore in the name of Reason, posited by them as original, universal, eternal, that society must be transformed: the social order will then, finally! the reflection of the rational order.

(...) A dialectician, Hegel sometimes makes remarkable analyzes. But his idealism led him to attribute to great men an exaggerated role; they become the sole agents of historical progress. This aspect of Hegelian philosophy was to be shamelessly exploited by fascist ideology for which the mass is nothing; only the infallible "superman" counts. "Fascism is what Mussolini is thinking right now," said an admirer of Le Duce. Hitler shouted to his shock troops: "I will think for you".

(...) As a rule, bourgeois sociologists explain material transformations by the development of "collective consciousness", which itself remains a mystery. The history of societies then appears as the progressive realization of moral aspirations,that have been wandering somewhere in human consciousness since the early ages. Why does "collective consciousness" evolve in one direction rather than another, we do not know ... It is because sociologists ignore (and some want to ignore) production, the class struggle , engines of history. They stay on the surface. If for example Social Security exists, well! it is because “ideas have evolved”. Everything comes back, as in the philosophy of Léon Brunschvicg, to "the progress of consciousness".

(...) For Proudhon, the history of societies is the progressive incarnation of the idea of ​​Justice, "immanent" in "consciousness" since the origin of humanity. Thus, the relations of production [See the definition of these terms, Lesson 15.] Are the realization of "economic categories" which lie dormant in the "impersonal reason of humanity". This uncreated consciousness - "social genius", as Proudhon says - is present in the whole of history; by it everything is explained, itself not having to explain itself. And since consciousness has always been what it is, Proudhon comes to deny the very reality of history (...) Proudhon is himself the victim of the clerical ideology that he believes he is fighting. "The conscience" of the bourgeois eater of priests, who takes himself for the measure of the world and of history, it is little more than the ancient God, vaguely secularized. At its root, Proudhonism is idealistic.

— Fundamental Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politzer

In the Poverty of Philosophy, Marx wrote of Proudhon:

When then, to save principles as well as history, we ask ourselves why such and such a principle manifested itself in the eleventh or the eighteenth century rather than in another, we are necessarily forced to examine minutely what were the men of the eleventh century, who were those of the eighteenth; what were their respective needs, their productive forces, their mode of production,the raw materials for their production, and finally what were the man-to-man relationships that resulted from all these conditions of existence. To go deeper into all these questions, is not to make the real, profane history of men in each century, to represent these men both as the authors and the actors of their own drama? But the moment you present men as the actors and the authors of their own stories, you have, by a detour, arrived at the real starting point, since you have abandoned the eternal principles you spoke of first.

— Karl Marx

Politzer writes:

The criticism thus made by Marx to Proudhon applies to all the forms of idealism that we have indicated in a, b, c, d ... In all cases, reality is turned upside down, so that the concrete explanation of ideas becomes unintelligible. It is dialectical materialism which, putting things right, shows that social ideas reflect the objective material development of history. Dialectical materialism alone is the basis of the science of ideologies. Idealism proclaims ideas, it parades them, reproaching "vile" materialism for denying them (which, we will see, is false); but in truth he speaks of them all the more because he understands them less; he asks them to explain everything, but they remain inexplicable to him.

(...) It is precisely this objective reality, independent of conscience, that some thinkers, because they do not understand its laws, call fatality. Existentialists have renewed the vocabulary while keeping the same thing: they speak of "man thrown into the world", of man "in situation". We will see in the fourth part of this work, devoted to historical materialism, that this situation is not a mystery and that it can be studied scientifically.

When, under feudalism, the young bourgeoisie of Europe began the construction of the great manufactures, it was unaware of the social consequences of this "innovation" which was to lead to a revolution against the royal power whose benevolence it appreciated at the time (the monarchy encouraged the nascent manufactures) and against the nobility into which it dreamed of entering!

When the Russian capitalists implanted modern large-scale industry in Tsarist Russia, they were not aware that they were preparing the conditions for the future triumph of the socialist revolution.

— Fundamental Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politzer

Stalin also explains this phenomenon in his story about a shoemaker that abandons petty bourgeois dreams in favor of becoming a proletarian, and becomes aware that in order to improve his situation, it is necessary to fight against the bosses, join a union, go on strike, and eventually study socialism.

Politzer continues:

When the U.S. imperialists, and subsequently the Western capitalists, in 1947, on the basis of the Marshall Plan, organized the economic blockade of the U.S.S.R. and the people's democracies, it was far from clear that they would contribute to the formation of a new world market, a socialist market, and to the disintegration of the old single capitalist market.

(...) Such is the "fatality" on which many novelists have embroidered. The struggle for the satisfaction of immediate interests leads, in the more or less long term, to social consequences independent of the will of those who engaged in this struggle. These immediate interests are by no means arbitrary since they respond to the objective situation, at a given moment, of a society, of a given social class. (...)

For example, the capitalist relations of production have not been chosen by men. The development of the productive forces within feudal society necessarily led to the formation of capitalist relations of production and not to others, whether men wanted it or not. This is how each new generation is forced to start from the objective conditions that are made for it. "Fatality" then? No, because as we shall see, the scientific study of the objective relations of production makes it possible to understand their nature, to foresee their evolution, to accelerate it.

(..) [Here is] the unfortunate fate of the idealist thinker: as he starts from his consciousness, without questioning the objective conditions that make it exist and that make it exercise itself, he believes that it is sufficient for itself. Illusion fought by materialism.

(...) Having said that, it is necessary to draw an important practical conclusion from the remarks we have just presented: we have shown that very great material changes have taken place in history without those who participated in the transformation, or who brought it about, being aware of its consequences, without their having wanted it. It is therefore false to claim that there will be no socialist revolution in a country where all the workers have previously acquired revolutionary theory! The millions of people who, in October 1917, made the revolution with their hands did not see as far as Lenin and the Bolsheviks the scientific vanguard of the revolution. But in carrying out this great historical task, they were working on the transformation of their own consciousness, on the victory of the new man, a victory scientifically foreseen by Marx.

It is not the will of men that arbitrarily determines social relations, as we have said, but rather the conscience of men, which is conditioned by the material reality of the society of which they are members.

(...) We see the error of vulgar materialism. Noting that there is no thought without a brain, he concluded that social ideas have a purely organic determination: modify the organism of an individual, and you will change his political ideas!

Philosophical materialism certainly states that the brain is the organ of thought. But the brain itself is inseparable from the objective conditions that make men exist: it is the brain of a social being. (...)

One of the most characteristic examples of ideology as a reflection is provided by religion. The idealists, like the theologians, profess that every man spontaneously finds in himself the idea of God, that this idea has existed since the origins of mankind, that it will last as long as it does. In reality, the idea of God is a product of the objective situation of men in ancient societies. According to Engels' formula, religion is born from the limited conceptions of mankind, but in what way? On the one hand, by the almost total impotence of primitive man before a hostile and incomprehensible nature; on the other hand, by their blind dependence on a society they did not understand and which seemed to them the expression of a superior will. Thus the gods, inexplicable and all-powerful beings, masters of nature and society, were the subjective reflection of man's objective impotence before nature and society.

The progress of the natural and social sciences was to reveal the illusory character of religious beliefs. However, as long as the exploitation of man by man persists, objective conditions remain for the belief in a superhuman being who dispenses happiness and misfortune. "Man proposes, God disposes": the peasant of ancient Russia, crushed by misery and with no prospects for the future, entrusts his fate to the divinity. The socialist revolution, by giving the community control over the productive forces, gives mankind the possibility of scientifically directing society, while at the same time increasing his power over nature at an ever-increasing rate. The objective conditions are created so that the religious mystifications which other objective conditions had generated and maintained are gradually erased from human consciousness.

In the same way, moral ideas are a reflection of objective social relations, a reflection of social practice. Idealists see in morals a set of eternal principles, absolutely independent of circumstances: they come to us from God, or they are dictated to us by the infallible "conscience. But we need only beware that, for example, the commandment "Thou shalt not steal" could only have existed and had meaning from the day private property appeared. In communist society, the notion of theft will lose all real basis because the abundance of goods will be such that there will be nothing to steal. How then can one speak of eternal morality? Morality is transformed with and by society. (...)

The revolutionary French bourgeoisie of the 18th century led its leap against feudalism in the name of eternal Liberty, Reason and Justice. It identified its revolutionary class interests with those of mankind in general, and it was sincere. But the victory of the bourgeois revolution gave words their true meaning, their historical meaning. It showed that these universal moral ideas were the expression of class-specific interests. Freedom? yes, freedom for the bourgeoisie to produce and trade for its class profits; freedom to keep political power for itself, etc. But to the proletariat, this bourgeoisie which had made the Revolution under the flag of freedom, refused the freedom to form unions, to fight by strike, etc.

(...) Does this mean that there will never be universal morality? Not at all. Morality will be the same for all men when the social conditions which will make such a morality effective will be objectively realized, that is, when the world triumph of communism will have abolished forever all opposition of interests among men, abolished all classes.

(...) The suppression of class antagonisms prepares the blossoming of the universal communist morality, of which the class morality of the revolutionary proletariat constitutes the first form.

(...) We see that the opposition of moral ideas in the course of history, and in a general way, the opposition of ideologies, reflects the opposition of the interests of the social classes in presence. It is in this way that we can understand how social and political ideologies evolve. If, for example, the bourgeoisie in France, in one hundred and sixty years, has gone from moral universalism ("All men are brothers") to fascist racism (hatred of the Jews, hunting of North African workers, etc.), this can be explained by the material evolution of this class. Revolutionary, it believed that it could speak for all men. Threatened in its turn in its reign, it justified its domination by a claim of right of blood. This is how the feudal lords used to do it!

(...) An essential thesis of philosophical materialism is that consciousness is posterior to material reality (nature and society). It is posterior to the consciousness of the objective situation. This is how the former shoemaker Stalin talks about leads an objectively proletarian life, but keeps, for a certain time, a petty bourgeois consciousness.

In the same way, in a society whose material base is changing, men only become aware of these changes with a certain delay. When these appear, then they look for solutions in the arsenal of old ideas they have kept from the past. Survivors (ideas born in old objective conditions) are an obstacle to new ideas, which correspond to the new objective conditions. Example: at the very beginning of capitalism, the proletarians exploited by the industrial bourgeoisie, were looking for a solution to their misery in an utopic return to craftsmanship: they therefore destroyed the machines.

But the survivors must inevitably retreat, as the contradictions of objectives develop: then the return to the past appears more and more impossible, while new ideas are reinforced, the only ones adapted to the objective forces that are rising. The past is prolonged in consciousness until the day when the present becomes intolerable to the point that a new one must be found; then the future prevails.

— Fundamental Principles of Philosophy by Georges Politzer

The Juche Idea Centers the Role of Human Consciousness in Humanity's Evolution

Marxism explains the universe mostly in terms of material conditions, class relations, and the economic base or means of production, which Juche agrees with. The Marxist methodology has given humanity advanced skill in mass production and high technology. Spirituality, a practice just as much governed by the laws of the universe as anything else, shares and is enhanced by this correct methodology, but its activity is in the other aspect of the universe, best summarized as the spiritual life of man. So Marxism is 'one side of the stick', and spirituality is 'the other side of the stick', the right and left hands of the same body. The Juche idea is currently the most credentialed idea in Socialism that explains the relationship well, giving such an importance to the spiritual cultivation of all members of a society.

During the reign of class society over the world, the role of spiritual life of the masses was hindered. Under capitalism, spirituality became corrupted by capital, served the functions of the ruling class, and was bourgeois, or even fascistic; then, for most people, it was religion. Some proletarians have rebelled against religious dogma. Certain utopians or spiritual anarchists tried to take spirituality into their own hands, but their idealist errors only produced nonsense and brought themselves no closer to enlightenment. Others abandoned consciousness and spiritual cultivation altogether, and achieved no wisdom.

When socialism is established, there are still remnants of the old society, bourgeois ideology in the form of spiritual dogmatism or religion still reigns, along with the old technology and culture marked by vestiges of capitalism. The society will go through a certain period of still being affected by these vestiges of the old society, which is to say the religious vestiges, the dogmatic vestiges. But the people - because they'll have socialism - they'll have the ability to achieve unprecedented transformations in these areas, and in unprecedented masses. In the development of socialism, the society will be organized in such a way that it's possible to have these massive transformations of the whole society, to spiritually cultivate themselves, to become spiritually liberated.

So Juche demonstrated to the world, through the triumph of the Korean people against all odds, something that was only a passing mention in previous iterations of Marxist theory: that the revolution must be carried on not only within the realm of the physical and the material and the bodily and the economic and so on, but also the revolution must be carried out in the spiritual, the ideological, technological and cultural side of things. These things must now be made available to the masses. The DPRK has the opinion that theirs is the best kind of socialism, because they take such importance to this side of things, because whereas the other socialist societies are still impacted by the attempted invasions of bourgeois ideology & influence, the DPRK asserts that they have triumphed over bourgeois infiltrations, and mastered protection of their culture. Meanwhile, the other countries struggle harder than they would otherwise, if there was a "revolution" (they literally call it a revolution) in the spiritual life of the society. And this type of revolution isn't in any way comparable to the Cultural Revolution, of course. So, all of these other countries have achieved socialism, they have survived the capitalist encirclement, they have survived, but still the task remains to cultivate the spiritual wisdom that is needed to maintain that socialism.

How Juche Surpasses Marxism and Completes Communism

So it appears that when socialist societies are born, they start to notice that:

Marxism did not pay due attention to the question of improving the creative ability and role of the masses, because it considered the development of society to be a natural historical process which follows the objective laws, mainly the law of development of the material and economic conditions, attaching decisive importance to material production and the social and economic relations in the activities of the social man. Needless to say, man draws on the objective laws in transforming nature and society. But he does not merely adapt himself to the laws. He recognizes and makes use of them on his own initiative. He has inexhaustible creative ability to transform nature and society to meet his demand for independence by drawing on the objective laws. Man’s ability to transform the world is limited in a particular period of history. However, this creative ability and role of man is being continuously enhanced. The development of society is attained, in the long run, with the improvement of the masses’ creative ability and role. (...) Our socialism is splendidly applying the intrinsic requirements of man, a creative social being.

(...) Consciousness is an important attribute of man and it guarantees his independence and creativity.

Throughout history, there have been sharp arguments between the progressive and the reactionary on the issue of man’s consciousness. Idealists made the spirit absolute and mystic as if it was an entity that exists independently of the material being. Materialists, in opposition to idealism, insisted that the spirit is a reflection of the material world. The theory of reflection was an advance in opposing the mystification of spirit, but it could not be a scientific clarification of the role of consciousness. Marx made it clear that social consciousness is determined by social beings and the former actively reacts to the latter, but he failed to clarify the decisive role of ideological consciousness in man’s activities.

The Juche idea clarified for the first time that ideological consciousness plays the decisive role in the activities of man. Man’s activities are conducted under certain material conditions and consciousness reflects the material world, but the role of consciousness is not confined to reflecting on the material world and reacting to it. Consciousness determines all activities of man. Ideological consciousness is the basis of all thinking and activities of man. It plays the decisive role in man’s cognitive activities and practice. Man has the consciousness of independence and for this reason he volitionally understands the objective world and performs creative activities.

The role of ideological consciousness is determined by its character and content. Determined by the character and content of ideological consciousness are all the activities of man—standpoint and attitude, method and style of work, way of life, etc. The ideological consciousness of independence, the revolutionary ideological consciousness, defends independence and propels the revolutionary struggle to transform nature and society on revolutionary lines whereas the reactionary ideological consciousness infringes upon the independence of the masses and holds back social progress.

The decisive factor of victory and success in the revolutionary struggle is the organized efforts of the masses who are equipped with revolutionary ideological consciousness. The historical fact that revolution emerged victorious in those countries in which the objective material and economic conditions were less mature proves that the decisive force that propels the revolution is the revolutionary ideological consciousness of the masses. The role of man’s ideological consciousness is further improved in socialist society where the masses have become the masters of society.

(...) The driving force of the revolution can be incomparably strengthened and the cause of socialism and communism will be achieved with success when all members of society are freed from subjugation of all hues of outdated ideology and fully ready to become communist revolutionaries through the ideological revolution.

— On Some Problems Of The Ideological Foundation Of Socialism by Kim Jong-il

When I read this, I think of how important spirituality is to many of my indigenous peers to our way of life. I see in Juche the philosophical exposition of its importance, the recognition of it being a necessary thing to focus on in the society. I don't speak Korean, but I would say that what I understand is that at least in their society, they've done experimentation on ways to make things good and even better. For example, art is hugely important for them. Art and creativity - they try to equip the masses of people with as much creative ability as possible, and so depending on how you interpret things... I mean, when I hear my peers say "socialism is like a good start to things, but it's not sufficient" and I think at least the DPRK is noticing that that's true, in the sense that there is this necessity of not just making sure that food is on the table, but also making sure that the people's spirit is fed. And that spiritual wisdom or whatever you call it in your own indigenous language, is really important for the survival of socialism. And this reinforces what indigenous people always say about the role of preserving our traditional knowledge, which for many cultures is preserved from times before class society emerged, and plays a role in our continued existence and resistance. Otherwise, you have to actively rediscover it. You can get to the point of revolution, but in order to truly be self sufficient, all of these things are needed. Juche recognizes itself to be a universal principle, not limited to the particularities of Korean society, and I recognize this to be true, I think others have recognized it but none so far as I know have pointed to the role of and relationship to socialism.

Not a few countries have carried out the socialist revolution, conducted socialist construction and gained various experiences. The experiences acquired through building socialism in several countries incorporate not only successes but also lessons in failure; they include excellent achievements as well as mistakes. All these experiences and lessons, when analyzed, summed up and generalized, are the basis for completing the revolutionary theory on communism.

— On Some Problems Of The Ideological Foundation Of Socialism by Kim Jong-il

Communism is an incomplete theory, so I think as experiences are accrued, then it will become more apparent to people the necessity of spiritual cultivation.

As for the mistakes revealed in socialist construction in some countries, their parties which allowed dogmatism and revisionism, not Marxism-Leninism and its founders, are to blame for them. The people who were said to have been building socialism guided by Marxism-Leninism in the past failed to put forward new revolutionary theories in step with the changed historical conditions, as they have applied Marxism-Leninism dogmatically.

— On Some Problems Of The Ideological Foundation Of Socialism by Kim Jong-il

To be clear, this does not mean that there needs to be some kind of middle ground between capitalism and socialism. No, that would be to abstract capitalism and socialism to just the level of ideas. They're not mere ideas. The task at hand for socialist countries is to have the ideological and spiritual grounding to be able to have socialism unleash its full potential, which can only be done by empowering the masses of people in their spiritual and cultural cultivation.

We don't have to wait for socialism to engage in self-cultivation. Juche and a few Marxists also recognized the pivotal role of consciousness in the struggle to overthrow capitalism. In fact, Chinese Communist Liu Shaoqi recommended it for the building of revolution in the early days of the CPC:

An immature revolutionary has to go through a long process of revolutionary tempering and self-cultivation, a long process of remoulding, before he can become a mature and seasoned revolutionary who can grasp and skilfully apply the laws of revolution. For in the first place, a comparatively immature revolutionary, born and bred in the old society, carries with him the remnants of the various ideologies of that society (including its prejudices, habits and traditions), and in the second he has not been through a long period of revolutionary activity. Therefore he does not yet have a really thorough understanding of the enemy, of the people or of the laws of social development and revolutionary struggle. In order to change this state of affairs, besides learning from past revolutionary experience (the practice of our predecessors), he must himself participate in contemporary revolutionary practice, and in this revolutionary practice and struggle against all kinds of counter revolutionaries,[1. 4] he must bring his conscious activity into full play and work hard at study and self-cultivation.

— Liu Shaoqi in How to Be a Good Communist

Exactly what type of self-cultivation is necessary, is beyond the scope of this essay. I do not pretend to be an expert of any practice, nor the arbiter of which aspects are idealist and which are materialist. Only direct experience in particular situations can answer that.

Perhaps the cultivation of consciousness being so important to the maintenance of socialism also speaks to how it was strategic for the colonizers to attack our spirituality so much, and warp our consciousness, and our way of life.