Vaclav

Last week, two very different leaders passed away: Vaclav Havel of the former Czechoslovakia and Kim Jong-Il of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Kim Jong-Il we are probably more familiar with, mainly because we are well within the range of his nuclear-tipped missiles. We are rather more familiar with his eccentricities: the funny hair, the interminable speeches, the propensity for nuclear brinksmanship, the taste for fine wines and, according to many accounts, a legendary appetite for sex.

Jong-Il inherited his post from his father, Kim Il-Sung. In turn, he made sure the mantle of leadership will be inherited by his youngest son, Kim Jong-Un. The DPRK is not just an extremely repressive country. It is one of very few countries were the political culture is hinged on a personality cult and revolves around intermittent displays of military might.

Because of its extreme distrust of the outside world, its obsessive secrecy, its totalitarianism, and its absolute cruelty towards its citizens, the DPRK is often described as The Hermit Kingdom. A whole country is trapped in another age. It is the only country still mired in the Cold War.

Year after year, the people of the DPRK endure famine yet its government spends so lavishly on building military power. The legitimacy of the regime is based entirely on propaganda — a propaganda system so comprehensive that speakers are installed in every home streaming the most incredible lies every waking hour.

Even if the DPRK opens its borders today, its people might not be able to deal with the modern world. The worst crime has been inflicted on them: a learned stupidity enforced by regime propaganda.

The modern world operates on enlarging personal freedom. All new technologies are personalized. All commodities are shaped by consumer choice. Individuals are deemed responsible for their fates and are expected to exercise critical choice at every step.

The people of the DPRK are forbidden from thinking independently. They are trained, each day, to worship their Leader. Obedience is drummed into them. They believe every ridiculous thing their Leader says. George Orwell’s dramatization of a totalitarian Utopia could not have imagined the reality that is North Korea.

Some imagine that North Korea will eventually seek reunification with South Korea to escape from its woes. They imagine a repeat of the German reunification that happened two decades ago.

The possibility of Korean unification becomes more unimaginable with each passing day as the North retreats into medievalism and the South charges into the future, complete with broadband access for every citizen, a lively multimedia culture, innovative new industries and impressive creativity in every sphere.

In the case of the former East Germany, at least, the population was highly skilled if badly motivated. The reunification of the German nation involved massive costs absorbed by what used to be West Germany. The costs of reunification will be exponentially higher for South Korea should reunification ever happen. This is why the South is not too keen on the prospect.

Vaclav Havel is a different persona altogether.

An intellectual and a man of letters, personal freedom was of highest value for him. When his country was under communist rule, he was routinely thrown into prison for his views. Yet he never stopped writing, never stopped hoping that one day his people will be free. Despite repression, he never yielded the life of the mind.

After the Soviet Union collapsed and communist rule in the former Czechoslovakia simply evaporated in the face of popular pressure for freedom, Havel was asked to lead his country. He was reluctant to do that, protesting that he was an intellectual and not a politician. But his people would not relent and Havel was eventually installed as the first president of a free Czechoslovakia.

Compelled, by his new status, to reside at the historic Prague Castle, Havel managed to traverse the long corridors of his new home by putting on roller skates. Kindred spirits, such as South Africa’s Nelson Mandela came to visit him to offer encouragement. He developed a tight friendship with the Dalai Lama.

Through the length of his tenure as his country’s leader, he constantly encouraged his people to think freely, demand accountability from those who govern them, seek edification from those who rule over them and be restless in shaping their own future according to their best imagination.

There was a price to pay for pushing his people to be free. Czechoslovakia soon dismembered into what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. That, on hindsight, was not too much of a toll. The two new nations equally progressed, smoothly transitioning to modernity.

The progress gained through democracy, driven by a creative and innovative people, produced a humane economy. Soon enough the Czech Republic joined the European Union, matching the standard of living and the quality of governance membership the regional community required.

Havel left office a happy man, returning to his calling as a public intellectual. He had left his mark. His people will never again yield to tyranny. They have discovered they could be their best in an open society, a free economy and a forward-looking government.

Vaclav Havel and Kim Jong-Il represent radically different models of political leadership. One encouraged a critically thinking people; the other enforced mindlessness. One was liberating; the other retarding.

Each day, we should examine the sort of leadership offered us and decide whether it will liberate us or make idiots of us all.