Giving Precedence to Political Work – On the Juche Idea (treatise, 1982)

For a successful implementation of the revolutionary tasks, political work aimed at educating and rousing the people into action, should be given priority over all other work.

Since the revolution and construction are carried out by the people, success in the revolutionary struggle and in building socialism and communism depends, after all, on the work among the people. Work among the people is, in essence, a political work and work to enhance their ideology. Giving precedence to political work, the work among people, means equipping the popular masses with party policy and arousing their revolutionary zeal before all other work so that the masses themselves will demonstrate a high degree of consciousness and activity to carry out the revolutionary struggle and construction work successfully. By its nature, the revolution is a voluntary struggle. One stages a revolution neither on orders from others nor to obtain some remuneration; one is motivated to stage a revolution by one’s own political belief and self- consciousness. Therefore, the principle that should be consistently adhered to in the revolutionary struggle is to give priority to political work to heighten the consciousness and activity of the people.

Giving precedence to political work is a demand arising from the essential nature of the socialist system. Unlike in a capitalist society where the popular masses are exploited and oppressed, in a socialist society where the masses are masters of everything, it is essential to rely on their high political consciousness and revolutionary enthusiasm. Only when political work is given priority to enhance the working people’s conscious zeal as masters of the revolution, will it be possible to give full play to the superiority of the socialist system and vigorously promote socialist construction.

Giving precedence to political work does not imply neglecting administrative and business affairs or technical and economic work.

As the leader instructed, administrative and business affairs and technical and economic work should be correctly combined with political work while giving precedence to the latter. The building of socialism and communism is a highly organized undertaking which involves the whole society and is conducted in a planned manner. This is complex work which is based on modern science and technology. Meticulous administrative and organizational work and scientific, technical and economic work are indispensable for the building of socialism and communism. And yet, these will be successful only when priority is given to political work. No revolutionary task could be successful if one should neglect political work and get himself involved only in technical and economic business.

In order to mobilize the masses to socialist construction successfully, we should place our main emphasis on political and moral incentive and correctly combine this with material incentive.

The essential feature of socialist society lies in its communist character. The political and moral incentive is derived from the communist character of socialist society and is aimed at strengthening it. As a matter of fact, socialist society is of a transitional character. Therefore, the socialist principle of distribution according to the quality and quantity of work done should be enforced in this society, and the material incentive should not be ignored. However, neglecting the political and moral incentive and placing the main emphasis on the material incentive runs counter to the essential character of socialist society. This is a very dangerous and harmful tendency. It fosters selfishness among the working people and makes them mercenary and acquisitive. In the final analysis, it undermines the socialist system and the revolutionary achievements. Under socialism the political and moral incentive should be the first precedence in all circumstances. The essential superiority of the socialist system lies in the fact that the popular masses, who have become the masters of everything, consciously work in firm unity for the country and the people, for the society and the collective. Only when the main stress is placed on the political and moral incentive, will it be possible to stimulate the masses into demonstrating conscious enthusiasm in work with a correct position and attitude as befit the masters of the country and the revolution.

Political work should be done through persuasion and education. This is work among people, work to rouse their ideology. The bureaucratic method expressed in giving orders and shouting commands can never rouse the conscious zeal of people. Only persuasion and education aimed at reasoning with and admonishing people will be able to equip them with revolutionary ideas, give full play to their revolutionary zeal and inexhaustible creative power and forge closer links between the party and the masses.

Political work should be done in an original way by applying various forms and methods. This is creative work which is conducted under different conditions and circumstances; it is work among the people at different levels and with different characteristics. Therefore, there cannot be a uniform formula or a set pattern in this work. It must be done in a way which is suitable to the actual situation with diverse forms and methods and in an effective and positive way.

Political work must be conducted in such a way that the masses regard it as their own affairs. Since it is work to educate and rouse broad sections of the masses into action, it cannot be done with the efforts of only a few people. As a matter of principle, all revolutionaries should be political workers and educators and organizers of the masses.

As the leader explained, the method of one person rousing ten persons into action, ten a hundred and a hundred a thousand through education, is a superior method in enlisting many people in political work and turning it into a struggle which concerns the masses themselves.

Political work must be closely combined with revolutionary practice. The major objective of this work is to implement the revolutionary tasks successfully. Success in this work must find expression in the actual result of the revolution and construction and must be appraised by it. Political work which is alien to the revolutionary tasks and which is not helpful to the revolution and construction is futile.

We should continue to adhere strictly to the principle of giving priority to political work, whose correctness and vitality have been proved by the revolutionary practice, and thus build socialism and communism faster and better.