Lenin’s Theory of Utility
By Robert Collins
Lenin’s theory of utility is based in those that find benefit and comfort from others who are willing to deceive themselves about another’s intent in order to comfort themselves in their view of the world. To feel good about one’s contribution to a false premise is indeed comforting if one chooses to either ignore reality or choose not to accept political discomfort. In one recent case, choosing to support the values of human rights denial versus support for the defense of democracy and human rights based upon one’s observation that “I talked to them and they seemed real and sincere” is to ignore human dignity and succumb to the propaganda of deception.
When Code Pink and WomenCrossDMZ visited North Korea they did so without having an appreciation for Lenin’s theory. The fact that these women met and conversed with North Korean women was apparently, in their minds, a major victory for human rights if one believes their testimony once they crossed the DMZ. Women of note from among those that crossed praised their opportunity to speak to North Korean leaders and agree that the term “human rights” was included in their statement. Was there utility for the North Koreans to agree to do so?
Within the context of North Korea’s propaganda-dominated diplomacy, the answer would most certainly be yes. To be sure, Lenin would have been proud to include it in a statement that had no impact on the reality of his rule. The same goes for the Kim Family Regime. The North Korean woman who talked to a representative of Code Pink or WomenCrossDMZ was surely not so fortunate to be so self-deceived. The North Korean woman, or group of women, whom the DMZ crossers so eloquently praised was prepped to say what the party-state wanted them to say – to the last syllable. That woman has been indoctrinated since she was in pre-school on how to think, what to say, and how to obey the party. She met her first official propagandist at the age of seven and listened to that person present how the United States was evil to the core and South Korea was merely puppets in the hands of Washington, DC. Her parents were compelled to listen to the propaganda put out by the education director at every level, the neighborhood unit chief in every local community, and the individual work-line propagandist who gave verbal feedback to everything they admitted during daily and/or weekly self-critique sessions. She has been compelled throughout her lifetime to do the same as her parents. She studied how North Korea’s supreme leader was always right and all had to worship him and do his bidding by serving the wishes of the Korean Workers’ Party. And yes, that they had to comply with the collective and do so through self-reliance. But self-reliance in North Korea is more akin to survival in an environment of unparalleled political terror, rather than self-motivation. Even if she had learned that what she heard was absurd – and it is – the secret police prepped her for every meeting and debriefed her on every word that was said. Every meeting that the Code Pink/WomenCrossDMZ had with individual North Koreans was planned, rehearsed and vetted before it took place. Every North Korean engager of the Code Pink/WomenCrossDMZ was required to report what they heard from every North Korean in their small team, not to mention that based on the secret police’s well-known tactics, there were several undercover secret police female officers within the group as well.
What benefit is there for the Kim Regime in doing this? The party and the police state control “the happening” and learn how to do a better job with those that serve Lenin’s Theory of Utility by developing such sub-theorems as Kim Jong-un’s Theorem on Manipulating Western Naiveté, or secret police commander General Kim Won-hung’s Theorem on Personal Deception.
How do we know of this propaganda, deception and the employment of the utility theory? Every one of the 27,000 North Korean defectors to South Korea has told us as much – in great detail. Their testimony of human rights denial, political terror, and mental and physical brutality are legion. Every one of them understands Lenin’s Theory of Utility. Apparently, such theories are beyond the understanding or at least the appreciation of Code Pink/WomenCrossDMZ. Useful? You bet…just ask the 27,000.
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