A North Korean textbook on The Philosophy of Juche

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Other views about man, which have exerted a great influence on human life, are
the biological and eroticist views. There are many varieties of these views, but their
essence is that man as a being is dominated by his instincts. The pragmatist John
Dewey said, “Man is an instinctive biological being which can maintain its life by
adapting itself to the living environment.” Pragmatism postulates that man is born 12
with immutable “acquisitive”, “bellicose” and “hiding” instincts, and that man acts
according to the “selective taste” of these instincts. Thus it justifies aggression and
plunder on the ground of human instinct. In effect, it lays the philosophical base for
the “American way of life”.

The social psychologist Sigmund Freud said that “sexual instinct (libido)” is
inherent in man and controls all human activity. Drawing upon the ancient Greek
myth about Oedipus who killed his father and married his mother, not knowing that
the latter were his parents, Freud named this unconscious sexual instinct in humans
the Oedipus complex, and traced the motives of human action to it. Attributing all
the causes of social evils to the suppression of the “sexual instinct”, Freudians
preach that “sexual liberation” is the panacea for all such evils. Freud himself lived
a dissipated life, touring various European countries and preaching “sexual
liberation”. In the 1920s idle rich women in capitalist countries are said to have
been so influenced by Freud that they believed they would be happy if they were
embraced by him just once.

Another view about man that has exercised an evil influence on contemporary
human life is the existentialist view. It qualifies man as an “individual isolated from all
social relations” and characterizes the present age as that of “human crisis”.
Existentialists say, “There is a cliff behind man and a dark abyss in front of him. Even
the ground he is standing is giving.” Such being his situation, man is seized with
uneasiness and fear of death. The only way open to him is that of sorrow, pessimism
and degradation. A maniacal existentialist once said, “We are convicts of life who
have been sentenced to death and are waiting for their turn.” Existentialism therefore
advocates full enjoyment and hedonism, saying that it is in human nature to enjoy
every moment: “Enjoy every moment while we are alive because we do not know
tomorrow”; “Let’s eat and drink as we please instead of building, accumulating and
endeavouring for society and posterity. Because we will die tomorrow”. It further says:
“You and I are destined to die. Why should we strive to live and fight against others?”;
“The only way to evade the horrible reality is not resistance to the reality but suicide.”
After all, existentialism aims at paralyzing the spirit of independence among people
and making them powerless beings, obsessed only with “death”, instead of being
committed to the struggle for freedom and democracy. My advice to the miserable 13
existentialists, who regard considerateness and beneficience for others as of no good,
would be to kill themselves first, if only to avoid the “pain of an isolated individual.”
Then we would hail their “death” as a “paean to existentialism”. The height of
ridiculousness!

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In the Guiding Light of Destiny, Ko Pong has written a book which is more than a philosophical text for its own sake, more than a mere scholarly discourse ( and as a scholarly discourse it is deserving of high praise).This is one of those rare treasures, like the Juche Idea itself, which is philosophical insight actually impacting the livelihood of the masses, that has its thumb on the pulse and heartbeat of humanity's sacred struggle for emancipation, a multi-millennium quest of identity and independence.

With all of the anti-communist propaganda we are fed, in the United States, it may seem bizarre to many of my colleagues that President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il would be compared favorable to the greatest and most historically impacting of philosophers and social scientists, but this is exactly what Ko Pong bravely argues. From page one, we are taken on a historical course of discovery and achievement as mankind attempts to answer the question "Who are you?" . Here again we have a valuable tool for breaking down the years of lies and slander directed against these esteemed thinkers and leaders, so that we in the US, were it is most needed can study their lessons.

Paragraph by paragraph, we are taken through a course of comparative philosophies as human evolution matures and grows, in the words of the author, "Thousands of Years of Groping for the Guiding Light of Destiny". Sadly, we find, that never is the most burning question, millennium after millennium, ever answered.

President Kim Il Sung was the man responsible for ultimately answering the question "Man who are you?" while in the course of establishing the Juche idea.
Comrade Kim Jong Il, has said
" The Juche idea expounded that man is a social being with independence, creativity, and consciousness and this gave a perfect philosophical elucidation of man."

I fear a short review can never give full testament to the 20 chapters and 103 pages of wisdom found in this book. Living in the decadent US capitalist-imperialist society, were such backwardness exists, and were noble statesman and geniuses of social science like President Kim Il Sung and Marshal Kim Jong Il are falsely slandered as barbaric and Bonapartist "dictators" it refreshing to find in The Guiding Light of Destiny, a book even the most naive of elements can understand and use and open the door to the whole treasure chest of knowledge coming out of Pyongyang.

Ending the book is a nine page poem entitled "Long Live the Juche Idea" written by Illi Reza Cozyaster, head of the Kimilsungism Study Group of Iran. I would like to share with you a few stanzas that most impressed me.

Head up, head up.
You are the master of the world.
You are controller of everything.
You are immediately this world.

Juche placed at the high position of master
Man, who was a slave of Providence.
Power and material
In the several thousand-year-long history of shackles.

Oh, the name of Juche
All people look up to
Is Kim Il Sung
Kim Jong Il.
Juche-Kim Il Sung
Juche-Kim Jong Il.

If I were a betting man, I would bet that I am one of the first people, if not the first, to read this great book in the US. I received it in the mail from the National Democratic Front of South Korea Mission in Pyongyang for some activities I was assisting in conducting, for Marshal Kim Jong Il's 62nd birthday, as per my duties as chairman of the Songun Politics Study Group (USA).

This book immediately stuck out at me, as if a holy biblee or a transporter to the mind of Pyongyang's revolution. I have since read it, in full, nearly a dozen times, and I have referenced it continuously.

The material coming out of Pyongyang is absolutely amazing, and in stark contrast to the junk books on "globalization" coming out of the US, which with all due respect, lack any coherent ideological theory or understanding. Even by the high standards of the Foreign Language Publishing House in Pyongyang, I find this book particularly enjoyable and enlightening. The Guiding Light of Destiny is nothing short of a work of genius and passion.

Socialist Scion of the Sun God wrote:

Existentialism therefore
advocates full enjoyment and hedonism, saying that it is in human nature to enjoy
every moment: “Enjoy every moment while we are alive because we do not know
tomorrow”; “Let’s eat and drink as we please instead of building, accumulating and
endeavoring for society and posterity. Because we will die tomorrow”.

AldoBrasil wrote:

Pls enlight me about wich material conditions dictate a personal ditactorship that is passed from father to son as if it was a medieval royalty.

AldoBrasil wrote:

Because in a true marxist country there is at least one party, that is at least marxist enough to guarantee sucession via election, at least within the party ranks.

AldoBrasil wrote:

How the ruling party in Korea can be so weak to the point of only being able to find sucession of power among the same family ?

AldoBrasil wrote:

I am even turning a blind eye to the fact that the ruling person is but the same for his entire life, until he is suceeded by his son. (what happened to, say, ruling for something like 4 years and being suceeded by another comunist from the party ?).

AldoBrasil wrote:

As much as people indoctrinated by "idea juche" think that Kin il sung was the Genial Guide of Humanity, Genial leader of peoples etc... I think if his idea is soo good and comprehensible, he could very well teach it to others to the point of having them being able to lead the country for a while.

AldoBrasil wrote:

Wait ! He was not president for his entire life ! He was prime minister, leader of the party and president. See ? How democratic...

AldoBrasil wrote:

I propose the following dilemma for those capable of defending such aberration (its something shared with stalinists, but at least stalin did not name his son as leader of URSS) :

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Aside from the clear distinction between Kim rule and royal rule, which I will not delve into here because it should be fragging obvious that the Kims are not treated as Kings (which is a fundamental aspect of Royalty), apparently the conditions are those of Northern Korea. This is what we have precisely because of materialism.

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The WPK does have internal elections from what I understand. The problem is that it's just party cadre. Also you should stop using statements like "true marxism". That's pretty idealist bro.

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... It's North Korea? Basically the most arid and useless part of Korea. And also their ability to conduct even basic trade is severely restricted. Imperialists are who keep the Kims in power by never releasing the pressure off the Korean people.

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Term limits aren't always a good idea, nor a bad idea. If they're called for they're called for otherwise I do not consider them a requirement. The whole reason the sons keep getting picked is precisely because Korea is at war and having a Kim up on top is a direct statement about military security. The Kims mean quite a lot in this war.

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Juche is dumb. It's not really an ideology at all.

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I don't care about circuses of democracy. They don't make me any more free having them.

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Stalin's son was a pud and everyone knew it.

Ismail wrote:

I think a major reason why the sons succeed their fathers is because the absurd cult of the Kims has made it pretty much inevitable. I can't really imagine some random bureaucrat or military officer taking power and being able to effectively perpetuate it in the absence of the "great/dear/supreme leaders." North Korean politics are uniquely "personalized" in a way no other government was. The two countries that come closest are Romania under Ceaușescu and the much more moderate example of Cuba.

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In the first period of his university days Comrade
Kim Jong Il read through numerous works of former classes
such as The Communist Manifesto, The Capital, Imperialism,
the Highest Stage of Capitalism and State and Revolution. In
some pages he went through he pointed out the limitations of
the theories. For instance, he wrote: "This theory does not suit
our era," and "It is confined to describing the matter in outline,
but has not unfolded the theory any further." He also elucidat-
ed his viewpoints on the given problems.