free·dom
[free-duhm]
–noun1. the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial.
2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
3. the power to determine action without restraint.
4. political or national independence.
5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom.
Unfortunately, there’s a total of 16 definition of freedom on Dictionary.com; I only listed the first five.
We take freedom for granted. We always say, I live in a free country; I have the right to do this and do that. We protest. We write about our thoughts on blogs or even do video-blogging. We have television with thousands of channels to choose from. We have the Internet to communicate and gather information from different countries. We have the freedom for:
- religion
- speech
- expression
- choice
- assembly
- and so on . . .
Imagine living in North Korea, a communist country. You will be completely isolated from the rest of the world. There are books, television, and radios, but their entertainment is only about how “great” their dear leader, Kim Jong Il (김정일) is; he rules the whole country. Okay, it's not entertainment at all, it's all propaganda. I once saw a documentary titled “Inside North Korea” by National Geographic. Americans citizens are completely not allowed to even step one foot in North Korea. So the filming crew went undercover pretending that they were doing a documentary about the cataract surgery that was performed by the medical crew they went with. If you have not yet watched this film, you will be astonished by the number of people who needed cataract surgery. There was over 1000 patients that needed the surgery. One of the causes of cataract is poor diet. Because of isolation from the rest of the world, there is no trade; so where do they get their food and the resources they need from? Obviously, the whole country has no food, or at least barely has any food that can feed the people. What I found really astonishing is how the people did not thank the medical group; every single patient thank and bowed to an image of their great leader Kim Jong Il. I don’t know if they’re completely brainwashed, or if they are just in extreme fear. Actually, not every North Koreans are “brainwashed.” There are some who attempted to flee the country but failed. North Korea’s borders are strongly guarded with snipers, barb wires, mines and electric fences. And if you try to cross those borders, they will not hesitate to shoot you. Those who try to escape are considered betrayers, and want them dead. There was this one man who used to work as a guard on the North Korea borders who attempted to escape with his friend; sadly the friend did not make it, he died from the electric fence. The one who escaped was able to flee to South Korea, but unfortunately the North Korean military found out about his escape and as a result they executed his whole family. If you do make it out and lets say you fled to China, China will send you back to North Korea and you will be executed. Scary huh?
Starving children and adults
The website I got this image from says that those people fled to China but was sent back to North Korea. As a result, execution.
Women in the military. I'm not sure but I heard that these girls were orphans that was forced to be in the military.
Propaganda is used everywhere. The brainwashing starts in a young age
Obviously, I know 100% that you will never in your life would want to live in a place like North Korea. People from North Korea has like 0% freedom, and we’re here whining about why marijuana is illegal, why we pay too much taxes, and bunch of other stuff. All I'm saying is, we take our freedom for granted and we don’t realize that there are people out there who has never tasted what a little freedom is like.
Marlene, this was the impression and emotion I felt when reading Lolita. It’s this overwhelming realization that we complain too much about the small things we don’t have, but in reality, we’re given so much and are incredibly selfish. The very simple freedom of leaving whenever we feel like it? That’s astonishing. We take things like love for granted. I found your blog on North Korea to be extremely moving. It made me uncomfortable, because I’m one of those people who fight for freedoms in the United States, but you made me pause and question how much I complain versus how much I legitimately fight for what’s right. And, do I think about those whose freedom isn’t available to them. It’s one of those horrible revelations when we realize that we fight for the most insignificant things in life; things we don’t necessarily need. Of course, I’m not talking about LGBT rights, but other things. Other “rights” we believe we’re entitled to. Do we really need them? And are we taking the ones we have for granted? Thank you for shedding light on these truths that most of us don’t want to think about. I really appreciated it.
ReplyDeleteMarlene,
ReplyDeleteIt is so great for you to point out how much freedom we Americans have versus other less fortunate countries. We can speak out our minds and ideas in anytime and anyplace, it is just the matter of courtesy. We have freedom to be rude and to be polite. Blogging is a fact that I never appreciated when growing up. As a teenager, I was into Xanga and then to MySpace and Youtube. Teenagers are free to grow up in any way they want; at any age Americans have a freedom of choice. I can’t imagine a world without any choice! Thank you for pointing that out. In Youtube, so many issues arise and are discussed. It is presented in a vlog, in a mini comedy, etc. Growing up in a liberal country allows us to learn in our own ways. I have to agree with Darnold how appreciative I am for your sharing of North Korea. I have many friends from the South and they barely talk about their home. The war between the two countries I imagine is very exhausting! My boss is also from Korea –not sure which one. He said, as part of the law, he had to serve in the army after high school for at least 2 years? It is a normal thing for them; not like us where we still have a choice to serve. Thank you again.
Hi lene, great post!
ReplyDeleteThis week’s blog was very thought provoking! You expressed your feelings very well, and you made great points about the significance of freedom. Many people do take it for granted, and like the above comment noted, Reading Lolita for Tehran is a great book to give people another perspective on their personal situation. Most people that are born in the United States, may be spoiled and have not really thought of how much freedom they have compared to other societies. It is important, that they realize, to really understand what they have. And the only way to this is to open up your mind and get a grasp of other perspectives, and how things really are in different countries.
I have seen the documentary about North Korea, it’s a great documentary to watch. The North Korea documentary was a real thought-provoking documentary because it revealed a world that isn’t usually exposed. North Korea has a very different type of governing that the United States, they have little freedom, and most people are literally forced to participate in its rituals. You noted that when the doctors came to North Korea to provide health-care, the doctors did not get thanked, instead, the people thanked Kim Jong Li.
Your comparison between the United States and North Korea was a great way to enlighten the audience on how lucky they are with their freedoms. There are so many people in the world that lack basic freedoms, like the people of Iran. Everyone in Iran is restricted by the constraints of their religious rule. These people are living under a rule that is based off of religion just like those of North Korea.
ReplyDeleteTheir ruler is seen as a god to them, and everything about him is their religion. What he wants to see happen in his society is seen as the needs of their god, and they will obey their god, just like many people follow the demands of their god(s) through their religious text. People in America have so many freedoms, and sometimes they forget all the freedoms they have. It is like living in a nice two story house with a pool, and one day you are fired from your job, and then you have to live in a single room apartment with little luxuries. Only then do you see all the things that you took for granted in your life. You forget the freedoms you have sometimes.