Authoritarian Regimes and Freedom Essay Example

How often do you take your freedom for granted? Citizens of countries like America, France, Australia, and Germany are all given the ability to express their opinions, gather together in public, practice any religion they please, and leave whenever they want. Unfortunately, millions of individuals around the world are denied these simple rights. Countries like North Korea, Syria, and China deny their citizens most, if not all of their basic human freedom. The state some countries are in, from government instability to nationwide hunger, is pitiful to say the least. North Korea is infamous for disregarding the rights of its people. The current line of rulers, the Kim line, has been reigning since World War II. They control every aspect of their citizens’ lives: regulating TV and radio channels, choosing their houses and work based on a complex caste-system, and even going so far as to watch them through their own phones. People, specifically females, are told what to look like and how to act. North Korea is not the only country that blatantly neglects its citizens. In fact, most authoritarian regimes heavily regulate their citizens unjustly. Residents of these authoritarian countries have not taken this suppression sitting down. In North Korea, about 300,000 people have defected and registered in South Korea. Rioting is rare and often life-threatening, as you risk being either thrown in jail or killed. The unwillingness to follow the rules and regulations set by the government is an indicator of the people’s lack of satisfaction from their country. They demand rights and the ability to exercise their liberty as human beings. Hyeonseo Lee is a North Korean defector and bestselling author who wrote the book The Girl with Seven Names. In a TED Talk recorded in 2013, Hyeonseo Lee explains the suffering and death that surrounded her while she survived in North Korea. She and her family lived in constant fear, whether it be of starvation or death, and it wasn’t until she was 14 that she finally got out. Her story is a perfect example of the cruelty that authoritarian countries inflict upon their people. She was forced to escape her own country that she was led to believe was without fault. Hyeonseo Lee never got a chance to be a child in North Korea; if nothing changes, others won’t be able to either. Individual liberty is effectively lost when one’s freedoms are taken, and that same liberty is what grants a person his or her purpose and happiness in life. This loss of purpose can and will negatively affect any individual in his or her day-to-day life. Imagine being forced to do a sport you hate or to watch a show that does not interest you. Your opinion on the matter is ignored, and you are consequently discouraged. This denial of choice can cause people to miss things they truly would enjoy. Small things like what TV show to watch, what clothes you wear, and what music you listen to are all apart of who you are as a person. This denial of choice is the reality for those who reside in North Korea and other authoritarian countries. The wants and needs of the people are tossed aside by the government in favor of a stronger military or more power, and the people, Hyeonseo Lee and her relatives, are left feeling a lack of purpose. Another woman, Suki Kim, tells her story of going undercover into North Korea as a teacher for the sons of elites. She reports that the students were given little free time to do as they wished, and any time that wasn’t spent working or studying was spent honoring the Great Leader, Kim Il-sung. They were not exposed to anything that the government did not want them to see. She claims that they essentially could not think for themselves nor to think critically. They were stripped of any sort of freedom, and were seemingly unaware of it. It was a long time before her students’ true feelings started to shine through their assignments. She left the day their “Great Leader,” Kim Il-sung, passed away and went on to speak about the injustice of North Korea through public speeches and writing. Authoritarian regimes are the fingers that snuff out the candlelight of expression. Their regulations are unjust and cruel, and their leaders are worse. Individual freedom is essential for any person to thrive, and denying people that simple liberty is enough to devastate their lives. Change is long overdue for these countries, and one can only hope that it comes soon for the sake of the men, women, and children affected by these inhumane regimes.