In one of my previous posts (Let’s be mavericks), I said that “We live our lives and do things the way certain other individuals and entities want us to”. I base this latest blog post on the concept of propaganda. Propaganda is the science of “make believe”; of influencing the way you look at the world, a way of insidiously controlling your thoughts. Why am I harping on about propaganda? I watched the evening news on television and news reporters were excited about the fact that Kim Jong-Il, communist dictator of North Korea had been “proclaimed” dead. Cause of death? Korean state television announced that he “died of a heart attack caused due to the immense pressures of running the state, he sacrificing his life for the general public of North Korea”.
I never really knew what the whole deal about North Korea was and so after watching the news, I decided to update myself. I watched a National Geographic documentary called “Inside Undercover in North Korea”. The situation was pretty similar to what the Taliban are up to in Afghanistan and the Pakistani North West frontier province. Repressing people and their freedom is the forte of these regimes and the North Korean government under Kim-Il Sung, and later his just deceased son, Kim Jong-Il has been literally controlling every aspect of life of the North Korean public. Privacy is probably a very alien concept to these people because government officers routinely just march into their homes for whatever reason. Even worse is the fact that the Government it literally controlling their minds.
The North Korean people have been made to believe that their ruler is a God, just as the idiotic rulers of pre- 1789 France made their people believe that they were chosen by God to rule. Kim Jong as well as his father before him, had people hang pictures of themselves in their houses. This is something I have come across myself during my stay in the Middle East. In the Middle East, it is mandatory for business owners to wall mount pictures of the kings of the land on their premises. What is more appalling about the North Korean custom was that people had to do so in their houses as well and routinely bowed before the portraits. Elderly women, held hands of their children and made them bow as well. Naturally, being exposed to such nonsense at such an impressionable age, an age where a human has no concept of self, these children have grown up to believe that Kim is indeed a God.
The government controlled media has people believe that North Korea is paradise on Earth. It routinely lists Korea as being the wealthiest and most powerful nation on the planet. You’d think people were not dumb enough to believe that. But in the case of North Koreans, they are not allowed to leave their country at all. If people remember, it was with great difficulty that North Korean football players were allowed to participate in last year’s FIFA world cup. What to speak of foreign travel, going from one place to another within the same city requires a permit; unless of course you’re a high ranking government official. They have no concept whatsoever of the kind of life people outside their countries lead. Television and radio are obviously Government controlled and broadcast only government approved programs. There is no internet access whatsoever. Yet, majority of the people are blissfully unaware that they are suffering which indeed they are. That is a way of life for them and they know nothing else. In spite of these strictures, Kim himself didn’t follow his rules. North Korean “nobility” is evidently above the law of the land. Kim’s son has had an education in Switzerland and is now the de facto leader of his country after his father died, 2 days ago. Kim owned a massive collection of 20,000 VHS tapes and DVDs of Hollywood movies, James Bond and Rambo being some of his favourites. Kim was a cigar lover; yet on being advised to quit smoking to prolong his miserable life by his doctors, Kim outlawed smoking all over North Korea, calling it one of the three worst vices a man could have.
What I would like to put into perspective is the fact that though our minds are not controlled to such an extent by our governments and media, it is nevertheless happening. And like the North Koreans we believe what is being put before us. Western governments and media outlets can obviously influence us to their way of thinking. However fishy and shady a piece of news may sound, just the fact that it was on TV or radio lends it credibility. Real news is routinely euphemized or blown out of proportion or worse, completely supressed to toe the “being politically correct” line.
Weeding out such misinformation is obviously incredibly difficult. However, I believe that we can at least try to choose what we believe and what we don’t by being active watchers and listeners than passive ones. By passive watching, I mean turning on the TV because we’re bored and just listening to whatever is on or watching TV while peeling potatoes. By being zombies in front of a television or radio, I think we literally give complete control to whoever is putting information in front of us. Even though we are seemingly in control of our minds, information gleaned passively does affect us subconsciously and sticks with us. We may not be willing to admit it, but it’s true. Active watching thus means consciously making an effort to choose what to believe and what not to.
For those interested in the NGC documentary about the horrors of life in North Korea, here’s the link:
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