The Socio-Historical Movement is a Creative Movement of the Popular Masses

The principle that this movement is a creative one of the masses clarifies the character of this movement as a major principle of the Juche outlook on social history that considered the socio-historical movement on the basis of people’s creativity.

Leader Kim Jong Il said:

“The socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the popular masses to transform and change nature and society.”

That the socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the popular masses means that this movement is the process in which the popular masses transform and change nature and society through their creative activity and develop themselves to be powerful beings.

Socio-historical movement advances precisely by the creative activity of the masses who transform nature and society to meet their own independent desire.

It is the special character peculiar to the social movement that the masses realize their life desire through their creative activity to transform nature and society so as to abolish the old and create the new.

Of course, the replacement of the old with the new is made in the motion of nature, too.

All processes of development, without exception, can be said the process of replacement of the old with the new one. But there is no subject that exists and develops in the way of abolishing the old and making and using the new in the motion of nature, so there can not exist the purposeful and conscious process of transformation to abolish the old and make the new. Therefore, animals keep their existence if there is something to eat and die if not, however developed they are.

Unlike in the motion of nature to use the natural things as they are, in the social movement there is the subject, the popular masses who create and use new things necessary for them, so there exists the process of transformation and change to realize their life desire through their creative activity.

At a glance it is difficult to distinguish the stone-tools, which were used by the primitives in the ancient times when their methods to transform nature were so feeble, from the stones in nature. But if one would examine them carefully, he can know that they are the product of creative activity of the primitives. Even the oldest stone tools in the primitive ages are not the same as a stone in nature as it is, but they are the things which were made of beating and grinding. In a word, the creative activity of primitives was applied to it, though its level was very low.

It is needless to say that multifarious social wealth the amount of which is reaching astronomical figures today is the product of creative activity of the popular masses for an independent life.

This shows that the process of transformation to change the old and create the new purposely and consciously is the process of movement of a form new in quality that can not be found in nature, the process of a creative movement.

Then, let us see the reason why the socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the masses.

The first reason is that the masses are creative beings that have creativity as attribute.

With creativity, the people continuously create new things renovating the old to transform nature and society into more useful ones for themselves.

The popular masses, the subject of history are desirous of abolishing the old and creating the new.

The popular masses are desirous to lead an independent life, free from the fetters and shackles of nature and society. This is the absolute demand of a social being.

Nobody in the world wants to live being subordinated to nature and society.

If one is to lead an independent life, free from the fetters and shackles of nature and society, one must abolish all kinds of the old that fetter independence of man and create the new. Only by doing so, can the masses lead an independent and creative life as masters of nature, society and themselves. If there had not been the desire of creation to abolish the old and make the new, nothing in the world would have been created and people themselves would have not existed.

The people’ s desire to abolish the old and create the new is endless and is continuously becoming higher.

Since the masses’ desire to discard the old and aspire for the new is continuously becoming higher, the socio-historical movement ceaselessly develops like the stream of the river flows without stagnation and stalemate. The socio-historical movement takes place precisely due to such desire of creation of the masses.

Next, the popular masses not only desire to abolish the old and create the new but also have the ability to realize their demand.

They have enough knowledge, techniques and experiences necessary for transforming nature and society, and they also have united strength to realize their demand.

After all, the socio-historical movement that takes place owing to the masses’ desire to abolish the old and create the new and is pushed forward by the inexhaustible creative ability of the masses to realize their desire is a creative movement of the popular masses both in name and reality.

That the socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the masses to reform nature and society is clearly proved by the whole course of human history in which the material and cultural wealth has been ceaselessly created and the old societies have been reformed and developed by the creative struggle of the popular masses.

Human history is, above all, the process in which the popular masses have transformed nature and created material and cultural wealth necessary for their existence and development through their creative movement.

People have transformed nature itself into more useful and beneficial one to them by their creative labor. People have reclaimed wasteland, dammed off the sea to make fertile land and improved species of fauna and flora to make new ones that have not existed and have been impossible to exist in nature. In addition, they have improved rivers and conserved forestry to prevent natural calamities and created life environment to lead a cultural and emotional life, too.

As a result, natural environment, with the development of human history, has been continuously reformed, and thus its appearance has been changed beyond recognition and turned into more useful and beneficial one to human beings.

Of course, it is a fact that today humanity’s existence itself is being threatened by the world-wide destruction of natural environment.

But one must not forget that the cause does not lie in the man’s creative activity itself, but in the individualistic and profit-first greed and activity of monopoly capitalists.

The popular masses not only have changed nature but also have made and used implements to create and accumulate the means of production necessary for food, clothing and housing by their creative activity. Large-scale modern factories and means of transportation, automated and modernized implements, majestic and magnificent structures and cultural and welfare facilities, multifarious good-quality materials of life including food and cloth, and so on–these material wealth created and accumulated historically are the fruit of the creative labor of people.

The popular masses, in addition, have continuously created cultural wealth of society by their creative labor and activity to develop science and culture.

The masses not only raise the creation of culture as their life demand but also accumulate experience necessary for creating cultural wealth and prepare the material and technical means and conditions through their practical activity. Thus, they give a strong impetus to the development of culture.

Human history is the process in which society has been continuously reformed by the creative struggle of the popular masses.

The masses have transformed not only nature but also society by their power of creation.

The process of development of human history from the slave society to the socialist society through the feudal one and the capitalist one was the process in which old social systems have been replaced into new ones by the creative activity of the masses. Human society has developed from the low stage to the higher stage through the creative activity of the masses to change the old.

When we observe the history of Korea alone, we can see that the creative activity of slaves and plebeians to change old systems had been continuously conducted in the ancient states, and the peasants had fought to change old social systems in such struggles as “Red Trousers” Peasants’ Uprising in the 9th century, the national-wide peasants’ war between the end of the 12th century and the early 13th century and Kabo Peasants’ War in 1894. These struggles had been vigorously waged also in the feudal states including Koguryo, Paekje, Silla, Koryo and Ri Dynasty. By such creative struggle of the masses, the slave systems were ruined, the process of collapse of feudal systems was hastened and the development of capitalist relationship was promoted.

The Korean people, under the wise leadership of President Kim Il Sung, have established the most advanced socialist system by liquidating the system of the Japanese colonial rule and all kinds of exploiting systems and have pushed ahead dynamically with the 3 revolutions – ideological, technological and cultural – to abolish the remnants of the old society and thus have accelerated the process of social development.

Human history is the process to strengthen the creative capability of the popular masses themselves, as well as the process in which the masses have conducted creative struggle to transform and change nature and society.

Man’ s creative ability is not inborn and it is not cultivated of its own accord.

It is cultivated and increased in the thick of revolutionary practical struggle. The masses acquire knowledge, skill and experience and train themselves in the struggle to transform and change nature and society and thus continuously strengthen their creative ability and develop themselves to be more powerful beings.

Historically, the masses have increased their creative ability, while at the same time transforming nature and developing society.

The history of development of productive forces is the history of the growth of man’ s creative capability to conquer nature. Productive forces mean creative capability of people to conquer nature. In the historic course of struggle to transform nature people have continuously made and improved labor tools, have accumulated scientific knowledge and production experience and have increased their physical strength and mental faculty and thus have increased their creative capability to conquer nature.

The history of social revolution is the history of the process to strengthen the revolutionary power of the masses to reshape society. In the course of struggle to overthrow the old social system and to establish the new one the masses have continuously enhanced the level of awareness and organized and thus have strengthened the revolutionary ability to reshape society.

Indeed, the socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the popular masses both in name and in reality, as social history is the process in which the popular masses have transformed and changed nature and society and developed themselves to be powerful beings through their creative struggle.