# Auf Wiedersehen To Kim Jong-Il **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712 "2011-12-19T05:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/61 "2011-12-19T20:25:24Z")
All I will say is, good riddance to a true monster and may he rot in hell. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/62 "2011-12-19T20:34:29Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > My plot is moving forward, soon I will rule North Korea \ Excellent . . . That gets **drachillix** out of the way while my plans for global domination unfold . . . Wait 'til he finds out NK’s nukes can only be delivered by horse-drawn wagon . . . ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/63 "2011-12-19T20:42:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Excellent . . . That gets **drachillix** out of the way while my plans for global domination unfold . . . Wait 'til he finds out NK’s nukes can only be delivered by horse-drawn wagon . . . What until you discover my nitrous oxide modification for horses is finally complete! ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/64 "2011-12-19T21:01:00Z")
I am on record as saying that dictators are bad. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/65 "2011-12-19T21:52:02Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I am on record as saying that dictators are bad. As bold and cutting edge as ever. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/66 "2011-12-19T22:04:16Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > 60 years is long enough for two countries to evolve into two different cultures and nationalities. North Korea and South Korea may share a language and some history, but so do the U.S. and Canada, Germany and Austria, France and Belgium. There’s no more reason for the Korean-speaking nations to reunify than there is for the Arabic-speaking nations to reunify. This is kind of not germane, but I thought I read somewhere that the version of Korean spoken in the North vs. the South is actually very different. That refugees have found that their accents are very distinctive and strange and that they are speaking an archaic dialect that hasn’t been used in the South since earlier in the 20th century. They don’t have the same slang, the same expressions borrowed from other languages, etc. I guess while they’re technologically stuck in the 1950s, their language has stagnated due to isolation as well. Sort of like what happened to French in France vs. Quebec. Kind of interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/67 "2011-12-19T22:11:00Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > WO going off topic, I consider having this username like that of “Darth Vader” or whatnot and the First Emperor’s reign actually managed to unite China and improved the country. How many people does someone have to murder before losing your approval? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/68 "2011-12-19T22:34:53Z")
Watching the number of people bawling their eyes out, and I mean genuinely bawling their eyes out, makes me fearful for humanity’s future. Just imagine if only Gaddafi had consulted with him to learn how to successfully run a brutal dictatorship and have the people love you for it in the 21st century. God! its scary. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/69 "2011-12-19T22:36:40Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > How many people does someone have to murder before losing your approval? Well, it depends. Jesus, as God, drowned a world and Qin loves that dude. ---
**Author:** ![Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aca169/32.png) [@Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stately_Greek_Automaton)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/70 "2011-12-19T23:08:07Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I am on record as saying that dictators are bad. That seems kinda strong. I bet some dictators are quite huggable. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/71 "2011-12-19T23:23:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > darth vader is a fictional character. You don’t see any Adolf Hitlers or Pol Pots here.Who says China needed to be united? Too soon to mingle levity with Hitler & Pol Pot. Darth Vader did his thing a long, long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/72 "2011-12-20T00:27:46Z")
> [@Stately\_Greek\_Automaton](#): > > That seems kinda strong. I bet some dictators are quite huggable. Well yea, there’s the old saying that the best form of government is a benevolent dictator. While I hate to admit it, it may be true. In no way, shape or form, would I put Kim Shit Il, or any of his family, in that category. ---
**Author:** ![raskolnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@raskolnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raskolnik)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/73 "2011-12-20T00:41:50Z")
Arabs aren’t like Koreans. They haven’t been taught to hate everybody who is the same pure blood as them. Of course they upset. Better a crazy Korean ruler than a foreign power who can actually teach you to read. ---
**Author:** ![Svejk\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/74 "2011-12-20T00:46:45Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Well yea, there’s the old saying that the best form of government is a benevolent dictator. While I hate to admit it, it may be true. That’s not an old saying, that’s bullshit. Who the hell says that? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/75 "2011-12-20T00:53:55Z")
^ Plato is pretty old. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/76 "2011-12-20T01:05:02Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > That’s not an old saying, that’s bullshit. Who the hell says that? I do. A wise, benevolent leader who has his or her subjects’ lives and welfare in mind can do amazing things democracy could never achieve. Things don’t have to be done by committee, the monarch simply orders that a thing be done. It’s all based on the will of the person at the top, and if that person is good, the nation will be good. The trick, of course, is guaranteeing that benevolence. Democracy is preferable because it prevents the worst types of governments, not because it leads to the best. I’d rather risk going with a government that’s always mediocre rather than one that could be incredibly awesome or incredibly evil. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/77 "2011-12-20T01:10:21Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#): > > ^ Plato is pretty old. F’eh, whippersnapper. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/78 "2011-12-20T02:19:17Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > …This is a great loss for the world of golf. Fucker, you stole my joke! ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/79 "2011-12-20T02:36:12Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I do. > > A wise, benevolent leader who has his or her subjects’ lives and welfare in mind can do amazing things democracy could never achieve. Things don’t have to be done by committee, the monarch simply orders that a thing be done. It’s all based on the will of the person at the top, and if that person is good, the nation will be good. > > The trick, of course, is guaranteeing that benevolence. Democracy is preferable because it prevents the worst types of governments, not because it leads to the best. I’d rather risk going with a government that’s always mediocre rather than one that could be incredibly awesome or incredibly evil. Thanks. Couldn’t have said it better. The statement isn’t an indictment of democracy only a comment on it’s inefficiency. We only have to look at today’s news in the USA to realize that. Under a benevolent dictator we would be on the path the fixing the problems. That being said, I am not willing to trust my future to a benevolent dictator because I also believe the statement is true that “Power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts.” Therefore, I’ll choose the inefficiency of a more democratic government. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712/80 "2011-12-20T02:54:49Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I do. > > A wise, benevolent leader who has his or her subjects’ lives and welfare in mind can do amazing things democracy could never achieve. But “wise” is never “omniscient” and any absolute ruler labors under what Robert Anton Wilson calls “the burden of nescience,” i.e., he can never be sure what’s going on because when you’re that powerful nobody dares to tell you honestly. A benevolent dictator can do horrible damage just by being honestly **mistaken** about what’s good for his people. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/auf-wiedersehen-to-kim-jong-il/606712.md?page=5)