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North Korea: Demonization has consequences

@@2 North Korea announced Friday that it has executed Jang Song Thaek.  The announcement called the uncle of leader Kim Jong Un, calling him a “traitor for all ages” with  his “wild ambition” who was “despicable human scum” and “worse than a dog.”

Uncle Jang was executed after admitting to his crimes before a military tribunal .

Kim Jong-un's uncle Jang Song-thaek is humiliatingly pulled from his chair by unformed officers at a meeting in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP

Kim Jong-un’s uncle Jang Song-thaek is humiliatingly pulled from his chair by unformed officers at a meeting in Pyongyang. Photo: AFP

This phenomenon of attacking a family member is  something I have seen at many levels ago.  Years ago a relative in my own family was accused of gambling away some family money.  I never knew whether that was true, but still remember the horrid way the relative was treated for his crimes.  The relative, a man I remember as rather a kindly person,  was ostracized, creating a schism and pain that still exists not only for the demon but for his children.

Surely my relative was not a his person of much ambition and whatever mistakes he made should not have made him (and his children) bear the burden of being ” “despicable human scum” or “worse than a dog.”

Why do people demonize others?  The problem occurs at all levels.  Years ago a faculty member I know was passed over as a chair because of a story about a nervous breakdown. No one knew if the story was true but the taint of demonization stuck because it was easier to use this label than to deal with this person’s  talents. Besides it made the other competitor’s ambition easier to accept.

Racism and anti-Semitism are close cousins of this personal demonization.  The horrible images of Jews from Nazi Germans and from today’s Arab press make peace in Israel/Palestine impossible to imagine.  Thomas Jefferson’s low opinion of pure Africans (as opposed to his interbred house staff) is reflected in the barbarism of how field slaves were treated at Monticello.

The Reprican demonization of Mr. Obama may be a similar phenomenon. Unable to stand up to a good man, the radical right needs to consider itself better than the President.  That works best of he is less than they, a demon.  I would think that without demonization, it would be difficult to oppose most of Mr. Obama’s very moderate policies.

Freud attributes much of this sort of thing to sexual combat, especially of children against a father.  In Freud the line between the father as a god-figure and the father as a demon is a necessary part of the process of forming an ego.  While Freud saw this as an unresolved need to compete for the mother’s sexual favors, I think it is more likely that this sort of sibling rivalry arises because we are naturally a herd or family group primate.  In any homo sapient structure there needs to be an alpha male.  Mix that with a civilized overlay and notions of behavior tracing back to the story of Cain and Abel, and conflicts are inevitable unless some or all the males (and now the females) has Buddha like talents  of detachment or one figure is indeed so awesome as to pass for a local god.

The idea of assuming godhood is interesting when one wonders what we do not know about Kim Jong Un and his relation ship to his deified father, the Dear Leader Kim Il Sung.  When Young Un came to power,  there was speculation that he lacked the levers of power and would need Uncle Jang as a shadow regent.  That seemed strange to me, almost Byzantine as if pretending a horse was a God made Caligula an effective emperor. How long could Un act the role of God knowing it was pretense put forward by the bureaucracy and army led by Jang? The video says other relatives are Jang are being gathered by Young Un from oversees posts … likely nto for a holiday poer in the atheist state!

Does the Young Un (not a pun here) now consider himself the heir of his father’s deification?  If Young Un is now a deity, can he absolve himself of the blood that tainted his hands?  How is this any different then that acts of Stalin or Hitler?

Curiously, the North Korean News Agency has not yet announced the execution of Uncle Jang.

 


0 Comments Add Yours ↓

  1. Roger Rabbit #
    1

    He forgot he wasn’t a blood relative, only an in-law, of The Leader — and therefore expendable. Got too big for his britches. Or too friendly with the female help. When you’re The Leader’s aunt, you don’t need a divorce, you simply have the cheating bastard shot.

  2. theaveeditor #
    2

    What a weird idea! Was Uncle Jang killed for cheating on the sister of Young Kim’s father?

    May Freud forgive those who know not why they do such things!

  3. Bob Raymond #
    3

    Why do you have such hatred of your family that you opt to go public with what most people would consider private matters?

  4. theaveeditor #
    4

    FWIW, I “went public” because of the effort by my brother to destroy the heritage of my father. Most of what has been written her eis about Buchenwald.

    If you want to see something far worse in the public domain, I can email you links to bizarre affidavits he has filed. These demonize several people, including my step mother, my step sister, and my children. Just identify your self and I can send the text to you.

  5. Bob Raymond #
    5

    You’ve got my email address — go ahead and send them.

  6. theaveeditor #
    6

    As I said, identify yourself ,,, address and phone number. Otherwise, all I know is that you are a Troll. Or I can give you the URL tpo go to order the documents from the court.