Death of a Dictator: A Time to Cheer, or a Time to Fear?

AP Photo

I woke up this morning and, as I usually do when I first wake up, went outside to have a morning cigarette. During this time each morning I like to catch up on what I missed while I was asleep. I check my email, Facebook, the news, and even try to catch up on my WordFeud games. This particular morning, Facebook was my first stop and as I was browsing my "recent" feed, I began seeing some talk of Kim Jong Il. Apparently he died overnight. Well, surely this is great news for the North Koreans, and based on the trends on my Facebook Feed you'd think my friends all won some time of "When will Kim Jong Il Die" office pool.

I would like to think that the removal of this dictator from the planet will bring some sort of good to the North Korean people, but I find it very hard to believe. Have you seen the photos online of the vast swarms of people crying for their fallen leader? It's really confusing when you stop to think about it. Kim Jong Il, for the past 17 years, has isolated his country into poverty. North Korea is literally cut off from the rest of the planet, unless you count the various foreign imports of cars, fine liquors, and gourmet  food the leader was known for importing. He has gotten plump with the fruits of life (and based on the photos of his sone, we know he has too) while his people starve, and die from treatable medical conditions.

I recently watched a documentary called Inside North Korea. It is available on NetFlix and I highly suggest it. This is one of the very few documentaries that takes place in North Korea since foreigners with cameras are not allowed into the country. In the case of this documentary, an eye doctor from Nepal has volunteered to enter the country to perform a marathon of eye surgeries for some lucky North Koreans suffering from blindness. A reporter happens to tag along posing as the doctor's medical staff, documenting the procedures. They allow the camera, but keep them under 24 hour police escort. What did I take away from this documentary?

North Koreans live a lifestyle of suffering, brainwashing, and blind faith in their Great Leader.

• A North Korean house may not adorn their walls with pictures of anything but the Great Leader, Kim Jong Il.
• When asked "Can the Great Leader do anything wrong?" the interviewed North Korean family literally did not understand the question. That is to say, their are no such words in their language to express such a thought - in fact the concept doesn't even exist.
• The hospitals in North Korea are full of state-of-the-art medical equipment, donated from many foreign countries - yet they sit in a corner, unused and falling apart - because no one can get into the country to train the doctors how to use the stuff.
• There is nothing good that happens in North Korea that is not attributed directly to Kim Jong Il.
• When the blind patients unmasked their eyes and could see for the first time, they immediately praised the 10' tall photo of Kim Jong Il that hung in the recovery room, not the Doctor who flew in from Nepal to help them. They praised the photo and one man even pledged to use his new eye-sight to kill as many Americans as possible!
• At the Korean Border, South Korea has a host of their biggest, tallest armed guards standing in a line facing North Korea to ensure no attacks take place. In North Korea, there are three guards in total. Two of them stand at the border facing each other each one ensuring that the other doesn't defect to South Korea. The third guard stands with his back to South Korea, facing his home country. The reason he stands there is to ensure no one from inside the country tries to defect to South Korea.

Does anyone out there really hold out any hope that this maniac's son, Kim Jong Un, will do any better for his people than his father did? I mean, look at this guy. His people are this as toothpicks, yet he is practically oozing butter and Cognac from his pours. The people of his country are so brainwashed, they will actually look to him for leadership. I hope I am wrong, but I do not see any silver lining to this story.