Nothing To Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Barbara Demick

Overview: Nothing To Envy uses the experiences of six North Korean defectors to address the extremes and difficulties of everyday life under the totalitarian regimes of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. There are compelling glimpses into the extraordinary challenges of everyday life that get magnified by systemic socio-economic failure as the country is engulfed by famine and unemployment. Constructive insights are derived into the consuming power of propaganda, the role of guilt in daily life, and the paralyzing fear of falling farther out of favor. Society is scripted by radios and televisions that only transmit government messages and the daily homage given to portraits of the father and son. Ultimately, it is through courage, deception, persistence and luck that some are able to escape the ravages of North Korean tyranny only to discover that additional challenging consequences await them and their families.

• Chapter 1 begins to unpack the extensive nature of Communist propaganda and the impact of its policies. Although the economy is in ruins and few have electricity people continue to proclaim the greatness of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il in accordance to their deified status. Societal protocols severely intervene and dictate daily life. How does an ordinary citizen rebel against a repressive regime? What are the risks to the individual, family and community for speaking out?
• Chapter 2 clarifies the unshakeable role of one’s ancestry and affiliations in a strict caste system with 52 categorizations lumped into three broad groupings—the core class, the wavering class, and the hostile class. It is impossible to increase in favor or move up categories, only down. Community cooperatives of around twenty families keep tabs on one another, run the neighborhoods and report anything suspicious or questionable. Does a caste system motivate or demoralize society? What does one do when “there is no light at the end of the tunnel” or “things won’t get better tomorrow?” How do caste systems benefit those in power?
• Chapter 3 delineates how North Korean history is only history if it is favorable to the party and creates the illusion of success and superiority. Children are indoctrinated through song, story and film 14 hours a day and then become empowered and rewarded to turn in parents or adults that go against the party. Spying on one another is an expectation and national pastime. How does typical teenage rebellion challenge a closed-system? What dynamics develop in families or communities when there is party infidelity? Should one risk losing caste s tanding to support a family member that is going against the party?
• Chapter 4 addresses that despite cracks in communism and socialism, North Koreans are taught they are superior and can overcome all problems. North Korea was an economic miracle in the 60s, but records were eventually falsified with lies built upon lies. The drive for nuclear power and the international recognition of South Korea compounded North Korea’s failings. How does one make wise decisions if common information is based upon lies? Why was North Korea an economic miracle until the 60s? How much did North Korea depend upon other communist nations in spite of being taught they were “superior” as Koreans?
• Chapter 5 identifies the unique historical precedence for a lack of dating and promiscuity in Korean society. How can culture make one more or less resilient? How do stages of life feed into our external awareness/awakenings?
• Chapter 6 provides insight into the nation-wide disbelief and confusion upon Kim Il-song’s death. The grieving hysteria was infectious as heart attacks, strokes, suicides and self-determined starvation increased. Why were people hysterical upon his death? What fears accompanied the spectacles of nation-wide mourning? How did some benefit from the death?
• Chapters 7-9 reveal strategies and failures to survive during the famine. Universal healthcare collapsed as doctors could not provide assistance without medicines. One death is a tragedy but a thousand deaths is a statistic. Survival ingenuity is anathema to socialism. Describe some of the benefits and downfalls associated with North Korea’s universal healthcare. At what points does widespread death motivate action or deter initiatives? How should a ravaged society respond when government fails to provide? How may it be to one’s advantage to lie, cheat, and steal in times of societal breakdown?
• Chapters 10-11 describes the collapse of socialist food distribution and how it presented opportunity for private business. People had to risk going against the law and unlearn years of entrenched beliefs (from propaganda) to attempt free market initiatives, but everyone needed a scam to survive. Men continued to report to work sites even though there was no work and women became sole providers for families. Why were men “worth less than dogs that guard houses?” Why were the train stations so important to the people? Does charity truly begin with a full stomach? What ethical dilemmas stem from stealing to not starve or lying to live?
• Chapters 12-13 identifies a core North Korean perspective that “an absolutist regime needs absolute power, and everything good in life is bequeathed by the government.” The starving people were told it was only by keeping the military well fed that they were kept free from the terrible Americans. How does telling people to solve their own problems go against communist thought? How could individuality lead to party collapse? How would you expose the truth if revealing it meant the possible annihilation of yourself and three generations to include spouse, children, parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins?
• Chapters 14-17 share harrowing details of escaping North Korea and consequences for those caught. It was a risk to share with anyone, even your spouse or children the desire or intention to leave. Women defect more than men. China returns any North Koreans caught. North Korea executes people for brokering women, trading DVDs, meeting with South Koreans or going to church in China as they are acts of betrayal to the Fatherland. How is it selfish to leave children, spouse or other family members to seek freedom? Should a parent defect and leave their children? What circumstances warrant others to suffer for your choices?
• Chapters 18-20 speak to South Korea’s initiatives and dilemmas to accept North Korean refugees. Repatriation programs ease the transition but South Korea’s capitalist perspective, thriving society, and economic affluence overwhelms refugees. Defectors struggle to overcome decades of deception and fall prey to previous survivor-like personality traits. They may be engulfed by guilt for those left behind amidst their access to limitless choices and endless possibilities. How is North Korea a Potemkin Village? How does religion ease guilt for some? With all its failings, and ever-forecasted collapse, what keeps North Korea afloat? Can South Korea, or the world, afford the potential humanitarian crisis to let North Korea implode?