North Korea demands neighbors spy on neighbors in surveillance push
Authorities are offering rewards and threatening punishments to normalize citizen surveillance and reporting of "anti-socialist lifestyles"
According to a source in North Pyongan province, regional branches of the Socialist Women’s Union of Korea (SWUK) held year-end review sessions starting Dec. 20. The meetings evaluated how well members followed directives from above, including participation in political study sessions and compliance with neighborhood watch protocols.
Officials repeatedly instructed attendees to “keenly watch for behavior that goes against socialist lifestyles.”
“They kept emphasizing that we must raise each other’s awareness and immediately report non-socialist behavior so the enemies’ schemes don’t take root in people’s lives,” the source said.
And yet...
The UK pandemic debacle was merely one reminder that it is possible to encourage natural informers to indulge themselves when confected virtue is on offer. It's as well to be politically vigilant.
Which of course we aren't.
3 comments:
Indeed. We read with bemusement and incredulity of the extreme surveillance practices of NK and the former DDR, but somehow we never notice that our own state practices equally pervasive and intrusive measures, all automatically, all unobtrusively, and also keeps perfect everlasting records of it all - without any need for human spies, or huge buildings, or halls full of dusty folders. And we think nothing of it.
I seem to recall our freedom loving government asking people to report those who weren't complying with covid based restrictions during that scamdemic, though the actions of Matt Hancock and his ilk were deemed to be excusable.
Penseivat
Peter - yes, our lot do it unobtrusively, step by step without ever defining a point where there won't be another step. We'd be fools to assume there is such a point.
Penseivat - I recall that too, one of the most sinister aspects of the whole ridiculous mess. Too many people were happy to be informers as well.
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