Teary-eyed school children recently greeted the new beloved leader of Korea DPR, Kim Jong-un. Watching these scenes (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/9314553/Tearful-schoolchildren-salute-Kim-Jong-un-in-North-Korea.html) provokes an interesting question.
In one of our course readings, entitled appropriately Twilight of the God, we form an idea of the mass hysteria and unwavering piety that the populace feel towards their beloved leader. We have to feel now that the delusion is now so entrenched in the North Korean mindset, that the chairman of the communist party has become effectively a god in their eyes.
Does the chairman, currently Kim Jong-un, therefore fulfil a role that religion holds in other states? I am reminded here of my grandmother. Although fairly religious beforehand, after my grandfather's death she became an extremely devout Christian, holding an unwavering belief that she would soon join him in the afterlife. Thus she found comfort and happiness in what is effectively a delusion. Belief in the beloved leader of Korea DPR has a similar effect, not necessarily in an afterlife, but in creating widespread contentment among the people. If everybody falls under the delusion that they are living in a Utopia under a god-like ruler, then why should anyone be unhappy?
Is ignorance strength?
T N, some people may be "deluded", but many just go along, as we have talked before (see also the Wedeen reading). Even the Demick piece ("Twilight of the God") makes this quite clear; cognitive dissonance between the "godlike status" of the leader and the very poor quality of life is not so easily resolved (see also Ceaucescu - after the fact it was obvious that basically everyone hated him, despite extremely similar levels of propaganda). A lot of people also would change their tune fairly quickly if the situation suddenly shifted (e.g., there was a coup, or something like that). I've also written on this: http://abandonedfootnotes.blogspot.com/2012/01/complexity-of-emotion-in-authoritarian.html and here http://abandonedfootnotes.blogspot.com/2011/03/simple-model-of-cults-of-personality.html
ReplyDeleteI would argue that your suggestion that the North Koreans perceive the Chairman as a God, and that this replaces the concept of religion in other states, is correct - but by design rather than an externality of the cult of leadership.
ReplyDeleteThere is, in DPR Korea, an official state-ideology known as Juche. It proposes, inter alia, that upon death citizens will join it's creator Kim Il-sung (being Kim Jong-un's grandfather) in the afterlife. My understanding is that while followers of Juche consider themselves atheist, Juche is often considered to be, something like, the 6th largest religion in the world.
I can't find the article I originally read on the topic so most of this is from memory, but a quick google will tell you more.
As in "regular" religion, though, Nigel, not everyone who says they "believe" is really a very deep or thorough believer in anything. (There are many Catholics who don't go to church, don't really think about religion much in their daily lives, but would be offended if you said they are not truly Catholics).
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