Emily made a really good point about totalitarian governments and theocracies. It made me start thinking about the difference between the religious control in Iran and the totalitarian control in North Korea. Has North Korea succeeded in keeping out democratic ideals by keeping out cell phones and the like? Or are North Koreans so demoralized that they can't even imagine a better society? It seems to me that revolution and change come not in most desperate times but at times when people actually have some hope for the future.
What do you think?
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I believe your two points about North Korea are not unrelated. By keeping out cellphones and such, one wonders what North Koreans actually think exist in the outside world. A good comparison (as far as we know, of course) is China before it opened up to the outside world. China's politics became so wrapped up in ideology, that reality ceased to make any difference (thus we have the Great Leap Forward). Now, after a middle class has grown, Chinese are pushing for political change, at least on the lower levels. Another way to look at it, is to examine who has the resources. In a centralized economy, the government has all the resources. This makes it harder (though not impossible) to start grassroots uprisings. Not only that, but not only is the NK government able to keep out the outside, they very vocally shout their own side. Propaganda has been developed into an exact science by party leaders, including Kim Jong Il. Film makers in North Korea consult a handbook written (suposedly at least) by Kim JI on how to best promote a revolutionary message in films.
ReplyDeleteI don't think North Korea can have a smooth transition to democracy. Their country just seems too broken already. And that's from the outside view, without seeing the skeletons in the closet. I don't think it can last much longer though. Kim JI is looking physically and politically weak. And the nuclear issue can only go on so long. The one thing I am sure of, is that the majorety of North Koreans are going to be shell shocked once the boarders are opened, and the outside world can come in.
- Ann L. 266
I don't think the North Koreans are demoralized so much as oblivious. I think that they *can* imagine better lives, but that they are unaware that they happen to have the misfortune to live in one of the most oppressive countries in this century.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently writing an essay on the Korean War that I hope to have published. Looking at the history of how the national psyche evolved helps to explain how North Korea came to be this way. Kim's father (Kim Il Sung) not only felt betrayed by the South and the Western world, but also by the USSR and China. Party dogma views N.K. as the last beacon of hope in a hopeless world. After a couple generations of that, I would imagine the population is thoroughly indoctrinated. When the regime falls (and one way or another, it will), I would imagine events in N.K. will get very ugly for a very long time. They've been in stasis for so many years that catching up to the modern world isn't going to be pleasant for anyone.
What's next is almost more scary than what is. It is amazing that in this day and age, millions of people can be kept so isolated. The contrast between the way the people live and the technology the government uses to develop nuclear weapons is jarring. It is sort of like Iran where centrifuges and stoning women for adultery exist side by side. But, Iran had an educated middle class who participated in the Islamic Revolution and know a different life. I know nothing about whether there is even a tiny middle class in NK, but I doubt it.
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