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Dear Leader
Apr. 14th, 2010 03:57 pmCovering Narcissus in a mythology tute today. Discussion turns to whether modern society is more tolerant of narcissistic behaviour than ancient cultures. Some guy mentions cults of personality, and mentions some of the more bizarre aspects Kim Jong-il's behaviour as leader of North Korea.
Lecturer goes nuts, demands to know where he'd heard this. He says he heard it on the news. She goes off on a rant about the American media, and how the Americans only disparage North Korea because it's got a different government to them, and how she can name fifty countries worse off than N. Korea and how does anyone really know what's going on in Pyongyang?
I tried to argue that maybe the fact nobody knows what conditions are really like in N. Korea is kind of a bad sign in itself, and that even if you assume 90% of what's said about Kim Jong-il is lies, that still leaves a good 10% of solid weapons-grade crazy...
Needless to say, this sorta derailed the discussion for the rest of the tute. I wouldn't have thought I'd ever encounter someone who thinks "Kim Jong-il's a little nutty and Pyongyang's not a nice place to live" is such a controversial opinion...
Lecturer goes nuts, demands to know where he'd heard this. He says he heard it on the news. She goes off on a rant about the American media, and how the Americans only disparage North Korea because it's got a different government to them, and how she can name fifty countries worse off than N. Korea and how does anyone really know what's going on in Pyongyang?
I tried to argue that maybe the fact nobody knows what conditions are really like in N. Korea is kind of a bad sign in itself, and that even if you assume 90% of what's said about Kim Jong-il is lies, that still leaves a good 10% of solid weapons-grade crazy...
Needless to say, this sorta derailed the discussion for the rest of the tute. I wouldn't have thought I'd ever encounter someone who thinks "Kim Jong-il's a little nutty and Pyongyang's not a nice place to live" is such a controversial opinion...