The time has come again for us to congratulate Kim Jong-un for his unanimous election as supreme leader of North Korea—and with nearly 100% turnout to boot! Either North Korea (and other countries like Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan with similarly impressive voting results) have figured out the secret to perfect citizenry happiness, or they're mega dishonest and authoritarian.
Clue: In this case, Kim’s name was the only one on the ballot, and North Korean’s turnout and yay or nay votes are closely monitored.
According to state media, the voting results are “an expression of all the service personnel and people’s absolute support and profound trust in supreme leader Kim Jong-un as they single-mindedly remain loyal to him.” Although its possible the ever-present threat of banishment to one of the country’s massive gulags just might help inspire an affirmative vote.
So why bother even holding sham elections? Turns out that since democracy is all the rage in the modern world these days, even authoritarian governments like to portray themselves as adhering to voting norms—as a half-assed PR effort serving both the international community and their citizens. It provides fodder for propaganda, and helps obfuscate authoritarianism. Two birds, one enormous fascist stone! And, at least in North Korea’s case, the elections have the added benefit of serving as an informal census whereby authorities can makes sure everyone is accounted for. Wouldn't want anyone escaping!
My personal reaction every time I hear the latest news story about North Korea: How has that country not collapsed? Its economy is completely dysfunctional, it experiences frequent famines, rampant malnutrition has led to its population to be inches shorter on average than South Korea's, and it requires massive aid from other countries for its citizens to subsist. And it's just generally nuts.
Here's hoping that the Hermit Kingdom will open up and relinquish its iron fist sooner rather than later. But I'm not holding my breath.
(Image: commons.wikimedia.org)
