The Socio-Historical Movement Is a Creative Movement of the Popular Masses – On the Juche Idea (treatise, 1982)

The socio-historical movement is a creative movement of the popular masses to transform and change nature and society. The masses’ activity for an independent life is characterized by creativity. Man realizes his desire in life through his creative activity.

The objects of man’s creative activity are nature and society. By means of his activity to transform nature which surrounds him and to reform the society in which he lives, man creates new material and cultural wealth and builds a new system and a new life.

The masses of the people are creators who remake and change nature and society. They are desirous of abolishing the old and creating the new and have creative ability to transform nature and society.

Human history is the popular masses’ history of creation.

Since the beginning of human history, the masses of the people have been conquering nature and making what is necessary for their existence and development by their creative labour, and effecting social progress by their creative activity to change the old. Their continuous creative activity has advanced society.

Their creative activity to conquer nature and bring about social progress accompanies struggle. The process of creation is precisely the process of struggle. Without struggle the creation of new things would be inconceivable. The process of replacement of an old social system with a new one and the social emancipation of the masses in particular is a process of fierce class struggle. A revolution begins with struggle and ends with struggle. The forces which go in for the preservation of an old system and life never give up their place of their own accord. A new system and life can be created only through the struggle to wipe out the old forces. All progress and changes made by humanity throughout history, after all, are the fruit of the popular masses’ creative struggle.

The process of their creative struggle is the process of developing themselves to be more powerful beings.

The masses of the people have increased their creative ability while at the same time transforming nature and developing society. The history of social productive forces is the history of the growth of men’s creative capability to conquer nature. The history of social revolutions is the history of the process to strengthen the revolutionary power of the masses to reshape society.

With growth in the creative ability of the masses, the socio- historical movement advances further.

The communist movement organized and developed by the working class is the highest form of creative movement in human history. This is a movement to build a society where the independence and creativity of the masses of the people are fully realized, the highest ideal of mankind which is fundamentally different from all class societies that have existed in history. The creative power of the masses, too, is exploited fully in the revolutionary movement of the working class. It is not until their involvement in the revolutionary movement of the working class, the communist movement, that the working masses whose creative activity has been restrained by the ruling classes during the whole period of antagonistic class societies, become genuine creators of history who transform the world to meet their own will and desire and shape their destiny in an independent manner.

The revolutionary movement, the creative activity of the masses, requires that the creative stand be always maintained firmly in the struggles to reshape nature and society.

Adhering to the creative stand is indispensable to leading the revolutionary movement to victory. Only when they adhere to the creative stand, can the popular masses keep properly their position as masters of the revolution and construction, and fulfil their role as such.

The creative stand is one that the masses of the people ought to maintain as transformers of nature and society, as shapers of their own destiny. Without maintaining this stand it would be impossible for them to reshape nature and society to meet their will and desire or hold their own destiny in their hands and shape it for themselves. Adherence to the creative stand is a sure guarantee for solving all problems by the efforts of the masses themselves to meet the requirement of the revolution and in accordance with their interests.

As the leader instructed, the creative stand constitutes the fundamental method that must be relied on in the revolution and construction.

The revolutionary movement requires that one should depend firmly on the creative wisdom and strength of the masses and utilize them to the full. The masses are masters and the motive force of the revolution and possessors of inexhaustible creative talents and strength. Only when one depends on their creative talents and strength, will one be able to understand the objective world correctly, solve all problems to suit the reality, and transform nature and society successfully. The creative stand provides the method by which to give an active stimulus to the creative power of the masses, push forward the revolution and construction on one’s own initiative, overcome the difficulties in the path of progress by the struggle of the masses, and ensure continued innovations and ceaseless advance.

The revolutionary movement takes place in a specific reality which is always diverse and undergoes ceaseless changes. It rejects all sorts of schemata and dogmas and opposes the outdated attitude of imitating others mechanically. A schematic viewpoint and a dogmatic way of thinking restrain creativity and prevent correct understanding of the ever-changing diverse realities and block the possibility of working out a scientific method of revolution and construction. Only when one bases oneself firmly on the specific reality and maintains a creative attitude towards everything, will one be able to identify the correct method of transforming nature and society and apply it skilfully. The creative stand represents the method whereby one rejects a dogmatic attitude and grasps the reality in its true perspective and concretely by one’s own thinking and solves all questions accordingly.

The creative stand constitutes the revolutionary method which enables one to meet most effectively the requirements of our time when the masses of the people have emerged as masters of history and when the revolutionary movement is highly developed. Our time requires that the role of the masses in the revolution and construction be enhanced to the highest degree and that all questions be solved creatively. The creative stand offers a sure guarantee for the victory of the revolution by enabling one to formulate a scientific revolutionary strategy and struggle policies in keeping with the development of our time and the new requirements of the revolution and ceaselessly increase the creative power of the popular masses.