Author: franki101

Destruction, desolation and hopelessness surround those who’re too poor to leave Syria. Crying out for help their prayers were answered, but not by god. The devil arrived with open arms in the from of ISIS and those that remained in Syria embraced him with open arms, feeling as though God turned his back on them. However, Satan had disguised himself in the form of extremists that twist the word of the Koran for their own political gain. I don’t blame these desperate people, what else is there left for them to do except to go to the one who offered them protection. Turing “closer to death than life” Syrians “turned to deranged ideologies.” After staring at “death on a daily basis,” it “changes a person; for them, the paradise of the afterlife is closer than an earthly existence.” They became institutionalized to ISIS because of what their government and the rest of the world failed to do; protect them. We get offended when terrorist attacks happen, but in all honesty we are sheltered in the West. The people who couldn’t afford to leave Syria were left with no other option that to join the Terror group ISIS. The alternative would be dying with out protection. Its basic gang mentality, you have to choose a side or perish. Ironically you can end up perishing in the end because you end up getting caught up in the cross fires for the “sidewalk” or in this case the “sandbox.” So, it seems reasonable that if protection was offered to the people of Syria they would run to it even if meant it was the devil in disguise.

I was 12 years old and attending intermediate school when I witnessed my first fight between two boys. I remember walking past a circle of people in the parking lot of the taco shop, while on my way to the bus stop. As I walked by I stared into the circle of chaos only to see four fists and two bodies circling each other, anticipating the others next move. The bodies that encased the two adolescents were shouting “Fuck him up!”, “Get him!” and “Donʻt be a pussy!” It felt like everything was in slow motion and I couldn’t stop it. I was oozing fear internally, but externally I was numb. I didn’t interfere. I just watched as two bodies beefed for their beliefs, for their pride and their freedom. The fight was almost over, when it finally clicked that one of the warriors was my friend. Suddenly I wasn’t scared because people were fighting, I was scared because someone I knew and cared about could be hurt. In a flash of a second they laid hands on each other. My friend got hit in the face and I had to turn and walk away because I couldn’t handle it. The next day in school both parties had swollen black eyes and bruised egos. I was left with a guilty conscience and less humanity, I was just as bad as the boys fighting if not worse, because I didn’t choose sides and I didn’t try to intervene. If I look at the role we as the western world play in the Syrian conflict, it seems to me that we are worse than the people inflicting the pain, suffering and death. We are worse because we do nothing, and so long as we don’t read about the conflict we don’t have to feel anything. We can remain oblivious to the Syrian’s agony, because it’s not our own. However, the “consequences of our polices” have created even more death and destruction than anything else. We should have stepped in when it first started and nipped it in the butt, but we didn’t. We were tired of sending our “troops” over to distant lands to die, we were numb with Iraq and Afghanistan and the broken remains of the soldiers we sent to the sand box. We had no more compassion to give for anyone else and so we did just short of nothing. We shot missiles at Syria, but still the innocent died. We let ISIS spring forth with every bomb that was dropped on innocent people. The western world is just as responsible as the Syrians for the repercussions of this Civil War. So, I ask how many more women, men and children have to die because they are caught in the cross fired of corrupt governments and extremests? Do our family members have to die for us to step in to action? When will we wake up?

The animosity and Xenophobia directed towards the Syrian’s is extremely intriguing because its is similar to the prosecution faced by the Jewish people during WWII in Germany. The Jews and the Syrians are both hated for their culture and heritage however the Jews are also persecuted for their religion. I could believe that the Egyptian government allowed the reporters to preach hatred towards Syrians, but then again America allows its reporters to spread hatred about the Hondurans seeking asylum in American currently. It seems to be that if someone is upset with their life they are quick to hate but when they are content with their life they have a capacity to be loving and compassionate.

Women who are ambitious and diligent workers that live in North Korea are the most harmed by the Regime. This is evident when looking at the daily life of Mi-ran and Dr. Kim. Mi-ran chooses to become a school teacher even after being faced with a multitude of obstacles, including her inherited Songbun, which hinders her ability to achieve her dreams. Dr. Kim is a highly successful workaholic who earns her doctorate in medicine, but neglects herself to the point that her codependent external relationships and the regime cause her to loose everything which she holds dear to her heart.

Dr. Kim’s is a loyal workaholic who ultimately becomes immensely harmed by the North Korean Regime in the following ways; financially, personally and emotionally. Dr. Kim’s monthly salary was “186 won”, which is the equivalent to about “$80” American dollars. Once North Korea’s economy crashed, “her salary disappeared” entirely. She had been at the top of her classes, she worked selflessly and only cared to serve her patients and her country. However, her blind loyalty came at a huge price, because in the end she lost not only her heart, her power to heal and her father, but ultimately herself.

Reading Dr. Kim’s recollection of her time living in North Korea, seemed like an oxymoron. Here she appeared to be a strong independent women who was a doctor, but her hands were tied when it came to treating her patients. One would think that she might have been privy to having a successful home life, however, this was not the case at all. She excelled in school, her job and her dedication to her leader, but her relentless devotion came at a horrific price. The man whom she “adored” since college dumped her, leaving her “devastated”, and then she jumps into another relationship. In an attempt to be ‘normal’ she has a shot gun wedding, a baby and a divorce. This is insane and honestly I would never have imagined that someone in North Korea, especially a woman could have a life like Dr. Kim’s. I was floored that the baby had to stay with her in laws after the divorce. She had to give up her own kid after leaving her husband and all because she was blindly loyal to her country.

On September 11 2001, America was hit by the worst terrorist attack they had ever endured. Everyone remembers exactly what they were doing the morning that the two plane’s crashed in to the twin towers. I vividly remember the morning I found out, I woke up and turned on the television while I was getting ready for school. I flipped the channel 11 FOX NEWS and was taken aback by the image that I witnessed on the television. The news channel kept replaying the tragedy over and over again and there were images of people consumed by ash fleeing for safety. At first, I thought it was just a scene from a new movie but once I arrived at school and we held a moment of silence on the field, the reality of what happened hit me and I understood what had happened. I saw kids all around me as we held hand being to cry. Although we were all the way in California, we felt the pain of the people in New York City, we felt compassion and love towards our brothers and sisters. When I read the about how people remembered exactly what they were doing when Kim Il-Sung died I could relate to the notion that sometimes moments in time that we experience are forever burned into our minds and when we close our eyes we are haunted by them. The image will replay over and over again. In NK people were described as ants as they swarmed towards the multitude of statues in order to publicly morn their leaders death so that they would not risk being killed. Whereas, the people who fled the Twin Towers looked like ants but they were running for their lives in every direction away from the danger. The North Koreans were conditioned the draw close to danger if it means survival but Americans have been taught to save their own a$$ at all costs and steer clear of danger no matter what. Although these nations are polar opposites they share the same basic instinct that trauma sticks with us no matter how many years have past.

Through out the years that Kim Il-sung was North Korea’s “Great Marshal” he created the illusion that he was God. In earlier chapters it spoke of how he had the ability to create “supernatural phenomena” such as his name calming the seas when sailors sung it allowed. It was publicized that a “mysterious fog” would descend when ever he went to the DMZ, and that he himself caused the “tree’s to bloom and snow to melt.” Kim Il-sung skillfully crafted himself into this god-like image, to the point that when he died his people we completely devastated. When the news hit that their God had died people felt as though they had lost their way. I noticed their relationship with their leader was not only that of a faithful follower but that of a child. Mrs. Song stated that she felt a “electric jolt” which she had only previously felt when she received word that her mother had died. It was apparent that in every instance when someone found out they went into shock. They were “numb”, “blank” and lost in the silence of the situation. These people could see the words being spoken but a part of them could not hear them because it was too painful. Every child has a love hate relationship with their parent and this can be seen in the different reactions that Kim-Il-sung’s people had to his death. Some creed profusely while other had to “spit in their hand” to make their face look as though they were morning their leader. Sadly the only correct way to grieve was to cry, there were no other emotions these people could display because Kim Il-sung was not only their father he was their god.

North Korea’s have been told how to conduct themselves in every aspect of their life from how they dress, what they eat down to how they talk. They have even been stripped of their sexual freedom to explore their bodies with others. Despited being heavily regulated, there still seems to be a subculture of rebellious tendencies. This can be seen not only in Mi-ran and Jun-sang’s relationship but also in how the defectors speak of the way in which couples conduct them selves in the dark. I found it interesting that even though North Korea forbid its citizens to have relationships until their late twenties that Kim Jong-il was allowed to be ” a playboy in his youth” while other “party officials caught in adulterous affairs” would loose “their jobs.” It was even more radical that North Korea closed all of its “brothels” and “kisaeng houses” in order to repress all sexuality. They executed all “pornographers” which could never happen in America considering the huge porn addiction epidemic. Part of me thinks that it might be a good thing that there is no pornography or sexualization of people because at least when people in North Korea fall in love with someone it seems to be extremely respectful and innocent. It lacks the dark tainted view of an American mind that expects what they view on the internet in a sexual relationship and if they don’t receive it then often times Rape ensues. We as a culture are hurting our selves so much every time we check out from reality and check into a fake sexual world full of people that are made of plastic and moan on command. Intimacy stands for “IN TO ME YOU SEE” not fantasy and fake love. We as a nation have a lot to learn from North Korea in this regard, I think that ultimately a health sexual stance is somewhere in the middle but we have to stop using sex to check out and numb up.

I was shocked to read how prude and conservative North Korea is. Even though they no longer wear the “monstrous hats” or the ” extraordinary coverings” which were “7 feet long, 5 broad and shroud the figure from head to toe”, women were still controlled and expected to adhere to a certain standard set by the regime. I found it hilarious that the defector who was working in the sex industry in South Korea stated “it would be unimaginably terrible” she “couldn’t even think of” an “unmarried student getting pregnant.” Considering that America views teen pregnancy and pre marital pregnancy as a normal every day occurrence I think it would be such a contrast to live there. Maybe the women and men are able to focus more on school with these rules and expectations or maybe they are just like us and plagued with a sexual desire to connect with others and explore our natural urges. It is evident that at least some young adults in North Korea share the struggle of remaining a virgin until wed lock. Over all, the women are “very rigidly secluded, perhaps more absolutely so than women of any other nation” they are in league with that of the women who suffer from the Taliban and ISIS oppression.