Part 4 - LA36 KB articles 1988 98 and cuttings 006 004

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Juche Idea and Western Europe 31 third world-colonized peoples who are fighting for their national rights. First and foremost in this category are the Irish people. Also broadly within this category are the national minority communities, whose original homelands are in the oppressed nations. Now, the citizens of neutral and non- aligned countries see in their state polic- ies a reflection of certain aspects of the Juche idea. For the progressive intellectuals of Western Europe the Juche idea holds at- tion as a philosophy that provides ty on the nature of man. Specifical- ly, as it is a man-centred philosophy the Juche idea has the potential of answering certain problems of late capitalist society that have eluded a European left that has tended to emphasize a purely economic interpretation of history and society. On the basis of its exposition of the con- cept of Chajusong, the Juche idea makes clear that it is the nature of man to strive for more than simply freedom from eco- nomic want. Thus material abundance alone cannot solve the problems facing man. Indeed it can even create fresh pro- blems. One obvious example is the chro- nic pollution in developed countries and the environmental and ecological consci- ousness that has developed in response to it. Another example is that in some economically prosperous countries there is a prevalence of degrading orography. The Juche idea can provide a way out of these problems, which those ideas based on economism and crude materialism transparently cannot. The dramatic growth of the peace movement has been one of the most not- able aspects of the European political scene in recent years. This is hardly sur- prising because Europe is one of the international arenas where the danger of war is most pronounced. As such a war would most probably be a thermonu- clear one the future of Europe and in- deed of the humanity depends on the peace forces acquiring sufficient strength to prevail over the forces of aggression and war. Therefore, the peace movement poses as a very urgent problem in solving the problem of the destiny of mankind at present. The Juche idea gives it the correct ideological focus of being an anti- imperialist, independent movement which firstly aims to extricate Europe from the war plans of the United States LONG LIVE THE IMMOR THI JUCHE ID A scene from a Seminar on the Juche Idea held in London (March 1985)