A foregone conclusion
Today sees one of the world's most hotly contested elections.
The result is expected to be a real cliffhanger.
North Korea has a very simple system – the powers that be select one candidate for each constituency, and the Proles go out and vote for him. Simple.
Of course there are those on this side of the planet who will scoff and sneer at this system. "That's not democracy if you can only vote for one candidate" they say.
I say that there is precious little difference between the North Korean system and ours.
Here the powers that be choose a small number of candidates but essentially, as they all have identical manifestos, political ideals and the same greed for power at any cost, they may as well be one and the same person. So in Korea they know in advance who they are going to get while here we know the outcome but just have to choose a name.
Personally, I think Kim Jong-un's sytem is a damn sight more honest.
I thought we already had that system of voting here with referenda?
A select number of punters in North Korea try a different voting method. They vote with their feet. Those who successfully swim the Yalu River take their jobseeking chances in China, and furtively avoid the police who might stop them on the street and ask for nonexistent papers. Come to think of it, lots of young qualified Irish people have been voting with their feet in recent years, flying to the Americas, Australia and continental Europe.Possessing impressive papers they have better life chances than the foot-voting North Koreans.