Many Westerners watched the scenes in Pyongyang after the death of Kim Jong-Il with incredulity and disbelief. "How can they grieve so hysterically over the death of a politician, a dictator?!" we asked. "North Korean propaganda must be some freakily effective shit."
Yet, the main story dominating the BBC news site yesterday was all like "The Duke of Edinburgh is out of hospital! Hooray! Hurrah! How wonderfully pleasing!" What's more, the news for all the days immediately preceding yesterday has been at least partially dominated by detailed analysis of the dear old Duke's progress in hospital, one correspondent informing the public that "six of the DofE's eight grandchildren visited him for about forty-five minutes..."
Imagine if he had died, and the endless demand the media would have made on our reserves of caring as a result. Don't get me wrong, I would have been vaguely sad if the Duke died, because all humans are worthy of mourning. But when the royals cop it, the country will be expected to grieve as though it was a member of their family which was no longer among us. And I think it's stupid.
The point is, the Western world is just as susceptible to personality cults as North Korea. In a sense, democracy is an even greater enabler of idolisation that totalitarianism, since our politicians need to attain our "love" for their careers to exist at all.
While we aren't wrong to look at the North Koreans and be freaked out over their apparent adoring devotion to Old Kim Jong, we should be aware of how often we liberated Westerners fall into the same trap. Think upon Diana, Lady Gaga, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, even Stephen Fry. How many people's worldviews hinge on the unfettered adoration of individuals such as these. I do it too. We all do.
The problem is that such idolisation commits the High Treason of believing that a person is anything more than a person. Reducing other individuals to empty vessels for the love (or hate) we feel we need to give prevents us from genuinely appreciating what they are, and causes us to expect so much from them that we react disproportionately to any less-than-perfect decision that they make. It reduces our own humanity, too, as our personal flourishing depends on viewing all our fellow humans as equals, neither superior or inferior. Only then can we accept what they have to offer us without a) blindly accepting anything they say to be true or b) dismissing everything they are/think/do as insignificant.
BTW, all blog posts I make between now and the 6th of Jan will be named after Christmas/New Years songs. The titles will make sense inside my head, but possibly not anywhere else.
Yet, the main story dominating the BBC news site yesterday was all like "The Duke of Edinburgh is out of hospital! Hooray! Hurrah! How wonderfully pleasing!" What's more, the news for all the days immediately preceding yesterday has been at least partially dominated by detailed analysis of the dear old Duke's progress in hospital, one correspondent informing the public that "six of the DofE's eight grandchildren visited him for about forty-five minutes..."
Imagine if he had died, and the endless demand the media would have made on our reserves of caring as a result. Don't get me wrong, I would have been vaguely sad if the Duke died, because all humans are worthy of mourning. But when the royals cop it, the country will be expected to grieve as though it was a member of their family which was no longer among us. And I think it's stupid.
The point is, the Western world is just as susceptible to personality cults as North Korea. In a sense, democracy is an even greater enabler of idolisation that totalitarianism, since our politicians need to attain our "love" for their careers to exist at all.
While we aren't wrong to look at the North Koreans and be freaked out over their apparent adoring devotion to Old Kim Jong, we should be aware of how often we liberated Westerners fall into the same trap. Think upon Diana, Lady Gaga, Tony Blair, Margaret Thatcher, even Stephen Fry. How many people's worldviews hinge on the unfettered adoration of individuals such as these. I do it too. We all do.
The problem is that such idolisation commits the High Treason of believing that a person is anything more than a person. Reducing other individuals to empty vessels for the love (or hate) we feel we need to give prevents us from genuinely appreciating what they are, and causes us to expect so much from them that we react disproportionately to any less-than-perfect decision that they make. It reduces our own humanity, too, as our personal flourishing depends on viewing all our fellow humans as equals, neither superior or inferior. Only then can we accept what they have to offer us without a) blindly accepting anything they say to be true or b) dismissing everything they are/think/do as insignificant.
BTW, all blog posts I make between now and the 6th of Jan will be named after Christmas/New Years songs. The titles will make sense inside my head, but possibly not anywhere else.
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