r/interestingasfuck • u/Dismal-Display-370 • 18h ago

Everyone is too happy around this guy

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65

u/CCDemille 17h ago

I wonder what it's like for him? It's obvious to us, they are all pretending as hard as they can, but to him, everywhere he goes, people are delirious to meet him. Did he buy into.it after a time? Or does he know its all bullshit but try to suppress it?

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u/Dismal-Display-370 17h ago edited 17h ago

I think he can tell it's fake. And even if he tries to pretend it's not, the constant behavior of people just acting like this around you has to get to you.

Like there is no one this guy could be genuine to, his daughter's too young. He picked his wife at an opera, definitely not his generals. Like there is not a single person in this world he could have a genuine conversation with.

Everyone would be too terrified, too bureaucratic or too reverent (because of propaganda) to speak to him like another human being I wonder how he doesn't just get depression

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u/cholmes 17h ago

He seemed chill around Dennis Rodman.

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u/InvestNorthWest 17h ago

They called it "basketball diplomacy"

3

u/DannyCrane9476 17h ago

At least until Rodman says something the Glorious Leader objected to, then it straight to the AA Gun testing range.

37

u/DiligentGuitar246 17h ago

“Have you ever seen a sad person on a jet ski?”

I have a feeling his life is just a constant state of jet ski. There’s no time or reason to get sad when everyone’s job in your entire country is to do nothing but make you happy.

3

u/Cicer 17h ago

Loki Mobius?

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u/FaithlessnessBorn266 10h ago

It's Morbin time!!

20

u/dawidlijewski 12h ago

Nah, the top circle is honest with him. The state would just collapse on lies alone and endless rose-tinted reports.

The inner circle is living off the state, driving luxury cars, and traveling around the world. They are basically carrying themselves like mobsters or feudal dukes.

He attended a private Swiss school. His father was known for his taste in expensive liquor.

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u/Putrid-Anything-4401 4h ago

His father carried one of the most extensive Hollywood film collections in the world. For guys who hate western culture, they surround themselves with it.

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u/LastAd8270 4h ago

They dont hate western culture. Its just easier to rally and control a country around a common enemy.

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u/FaithlessnessBorn266 10h ago

He is basically a zoo animal

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u/WingerRules 8h ago edited 8h ago

The private chef to the Kim family that escaped claimed he had encountered real conversations with him when he was growing up. For instance, on a trip to a beach he recalled being in a limo alone with him and he Un started commenting about how they're on a trip to the beach "but what of the people". So he definitely knew about the disparity. Reports like that plus his western schooling made me hope he would be less insane when he took over but it didnt happen.

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u/pleasehelpteeth 9m ago

Its really hard to know whats real or not but I think quality of life has improved but yeah still an insane tyrannical place.

The real question is if he wanted out what can he actually do. He cant just call south Korea and say let's do this thing it would start a war

2

u/TRR462 14h ago

Probably why he used to enjoy talking with Dennis “the worm” Rodman, the dictator is a big basketball fan.

1

u/Excuse 17h ago

His sister definitely seems like the type of person who you don't want to have a genuine conversation with.

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u/APilgrimShadow 14h ago

Wrong. Dennis Rodman could have a genuine conversation with him.

1

u/Miserable_Fee1545 13h ago

He could have a genuine conversation with me.

1

u/inspectormadget6421 13h ago

being a god emperor for life, absolute power and every woman everywhere in the country available to you. idk man seems like a pretty good cure for depression

1

u/idrkmatewastaken 13h ago

Fairly certain Donald Trump made a fat joke about him while he was in the room.
If that counts for anything

1

u/SeaPollution2750 13h ago

He looks like a depressive eater.

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u/Qabbalah 11h ago

I wonder how he doesn't just get depression

What makes you think he doesn't?

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u/ViruliferousBadger 10h ago

His sister, who is as bad as him and probably next in line to rule the country if she can have her way and off him.

That's as genuine as anything, talking to a person who'd kill you as quick as tell you how her day "re-educating" people was.

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u/Heavy_Bicycle6524 10h ago

Haven’t you seen Team America. He is very sad and Ronrey

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u/Random_Introvert_42 2h ago

He's used to it since he was an infant. It's his normal. He has nothing to compare to, to tell it's fake.

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u/stamfordbridge1191 1h ago

There is the possibility he & his generals have a quiet understanding that the military could just go ahead and kill his whole family & take over, but are content with permitting the Kims be the almost god-like face of the government.

Thus in the event that everything goes really bad, like a popular uprising or a coalition invasion that will overthrow or otherwise collapse the government, the military can waltz in and execute them, potentially saving much of the North Korean elite face by claiming "look! we got rid of the crazy family that was totally in charge of everything! Isn't it such a relief that sane people are in charge now to negotiate with you now?"

Then, much of the country's leadership & military can have more leverage in negotiating themselves into better positions in whatever a post-Kim North Korea would look like since they "got rid of the problem" & ideally made whatever DPRK-upheaving conflict shorter.

Killing them before an upheaval loses the other leaders that possible insurance policy (maybe even inevitable depending on how they view their strategic situation), and in the meantime, North Korea's elite can just enjoy the riches of their status quo anyway, as long as no one tries to step out of line to rock the boat. The Kims get enjoy being the wealthiest of North Koreans & just about any indulgence the country can afford to be the insurance policy. The regular North Koreans have to just keep trying to float on the waves caused by decisions of their leaders.

This is assuming of course that most of the North Koreans aren't as delusional as they seem.

0

u/5hadow 17h ago

Narcissist can't tell. This is his reality, he fully believes this.

0

u/Carrman099 16h ago

Why would they run a system like this? It’s completely illogical and would have caused the country to collapse decades ago.

59

u/Don_Alosi 17h ago

He went to school in Switzerland, his classmates had no idea who he was, he knows what's like to be around other people behaving normally, 

he knows they're all playing a part, he knows he's playing a part too

6

u/peequi 17h ago

The classic, I know that you know that I know that you know. What a trip.

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u/Zoranealsequence 15h ago

Damn thats deep. Too real!

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u/Maximum_Boros 10h ago

I think this is mostly true but there's also definitely an element that when you start telling a lie enough times and playing a part long enough it's pretty much a default part of the human condition that you wind up internalizing at least some of the lie. Like on the surface he knows that it's bullshit but there's also a part of him that forgets it I'm sure.

5

u/Ocronus 16h ago

Must be a very empty existence knowing not a single human interaction day in and day out is genuine.  Then again the President of the US desperately wants this himself.

0

u/TastyVermicelli3140 12h ago

Jesus everything has to be about the USA all the time, you morons are exactly like your president and you don't even realize it.

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u/CheeseStick1999 8h ago

Woah! Americans use America for examples and to relate things to their own life? What a terrible thing to do! Don't they know this site is for whiny non-Americans to cry because they don't get enough attention?

Continue allowing America to piss you off for existing. We're gonna stick to not even knowing who you are.

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u/Ocronus 8h ago

Let's not get started on the fact that this fine upstanding example of a redditor, in absolute immaculate reddit fashion, assumed I am American.

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u/CheeseStick1999 7h ago

Lol didn't want to go through the time to sleuth your posts to find out, but glad to see the "You don't even know if they're American" part I deleted had some sauce.

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u/johnyordinary 8h ago

And just like that, you show your ignorance to be willfull, not accidental. How sad and what a waste of potential.

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u/CheeseStick1999 7h ago

It's almost like willful ignorance will piss off someone bitching about America... Surely my comment couldn't have been specifically designed to get under that guy's skin? That would certainly be far too advanced for my tiny American brain.

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u/MoltenMirrors 8h ago

2 things come to mind:

  • People with lifetime absolute power, like him, tend to experience a dissolution of ego boundaries between themselves and the state / "the people". Their personal welfare is that of the state; the nation's achievements are their personal achievements, etc. He probably sees the constant adulation and cult of personality as being one and the same as patriotism and love of country, and it doesn't embarrass him or feel undue.

  • A lot of Asian cultures don't get as hung up on notions of things like sincerity or authenticity as Westerners do. When it comes to matters of patriotism or religious faith, performance or action is what matters because it demonstrates social harmony. The individual's inner life is almost beside the point. So the idea of hypocrisy or "faking it" probably doesn't really bother him.

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u/psychRN1975 1h ago

thumps on table hear hear

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u/AsherTheDasher 17h ago

its funny because hes 100% putting on an act too. he has an image to uphold as the grandest greatest leader of all time, and if that falters at any point in time (atleast in public) then the whole illusion is ruined
https://giphy.com/gifs/Pu08Dx3HHQDKNyPO2g

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u/MrMcgilicutty 17h ago

See, you are thinking about this with a normal human being’s perspective. He is such a narcissistic sociopath that he expects this, and if he perceives that someone around him is not praising him hard enough, he will make sure that they are punished for it. It is all a power move and people in his situation actually get off on it.

2

u/Quiet_Blood3872 14h ago

It’s like a video game where all the NPCs are your biggest fans
https://giphy.com/gifs/JUZ1oxqC1tslgAYCPz

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u/Joooooooosh 13h ago

It’s a power trip. Has nothing to do with actual admiration and he knows that. 

The leader is a deity in North Korea. Every single citizen is force fed this since birth. 

I doubt he even sees the normal people of his country as fellow humans. To him they are a sub species. 

How else could you keep an entire country starving. 

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u/United_Branch_5736 11h ago

From our side, it's not much different than how US under Trump looks like. Bunch of yes-man, everyone else scared to do anything about it.

And all are convinced life is great. Could not be better. Either picking rise or typing report using AI. 😉

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u/BigGrinJesus 10h ago

I reckon he doesn't care if it's real or not and he loves it.

1

u/sunshineriptide 16h ago

I'm certain it's more about the power he holds over these people and not necessarily feeding into a delusion, although it's definitely part of it.

Less wow, everyone's so happy because I'm such a great ruler, and more everyone's happy because I said so.

1

u/Unchosenone7 15h ago

I don’t think he’s bought into it. It’s the addiction of having the power to make people do whatever you want at anytime.

1

u/theVictorlink 13h ago

Being a narcissist is part of being a dictator. It wouldn't surprise me if he was completely oblivious to how fake it really is.

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u/BornChef3439 12h ago

We have quotes from his dad. He hated it and he his son probably hates it too. The thing is that people must understand is that this is performative. The people in the crowd are going overboard because anything else might make then look suspiviousm but its not necessarily done out of fear. Its more like those people at work who go overboard in praising the boss to get that promotion

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u/DanialE 9h ago

Dude studied in the west before he was rushed into power after his dad died of a heart attack. He knows what is normal and whats abnormal

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u/Made_Human_Music 7h ago

I imagine it’s sort of like when normal people play a video game where they’re the hero and the world exists for them

You know it’s all programmed for you to win but it’s still enjoyable to be the star

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u/-moonstruck 5h ago

Buy into it? He’s the one who enforces it.

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u/DaaaahWhoosh 4h ago

I'm not convinced it's pretending. Reminds me of something I've heard historians say: we should not assume that ancient people didn't believe in their gods just because we don't. If you grow up in a culture where this sort of thing is normal and expected, you might never question it. People have held onto far stranger delusions, and a feeling of being part of something greater than yourself is intoxicating.

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u/pmmemilftiddiez 4h ago

Honestly it seems like he's tortured because he will never hear someone tell him he's wrong or disagree with him.

They're tortured because they're expected to be yes men and women 24/7.

This is insanity.

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u/Top-Steak-6837 3h ago

I was thinking exactly the same thing. Would he eventually forget that everyone is terrified of him, are forced into displaying the ecstatic happiness frenzy and hate him? Absolute power corrupts but to what extent? I believe it’s entirely possible that he could actually believe his own bullshit given enough time

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u/Sohn_Jalston_Raul 3h ago

He grew up as a normal kid attending school in Switzerland (where the Kim family is based), playing basketball and watching Hollywood movies. He knows.

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u/athun 2h ago

It's an outward demonstration of compliance, obedience, submission, fealty. It's symbolic of his complete control over their actions and wills.

I'm sure he's glad to see it. It indicates things are as they should be. I doubt the rest matters to him at all.

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u/psychRN1975 1h ago

he went to school abroad. He knows its staged. Its a power trip knowing they do it out of absolute loyalty

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u/JustOneSexQuestion 1h ago

Go to a strip club to experience it yourself.

0

u/Interne-Stranger 17h ago

His family made designed this decades ago so, he has to be aware....right?