The Monk and the Gun

Pitch

In 2006, Bhutan embraced modernization, discovering the internet, television... and democracy. To teach its people how to vote, the government organized "blank elections." But in the land of Gross National Happiness, where religion and the king matter more than politics, the inhabitants seemed unmotivated. However, in a remote mountainous province, a monk decided to organize a mysterious ceremony on election day and tasked one of his disciples with finding a rifle... "Throughout modern times, the existence of the tiny Bhutanese nation has depended on its ability to remain aloof, resolutely clinging to the safeguards of the past, with the king as the sole figure of authority, and the 2,500-year-old teachings of the Buddha as the sole guide to life." Bhutan is undoubtedly one of the only countries in the world to have introduced democracy without the people demanding it or staging a revolution, but simply when the king abdicated of his own free will so that his country and people could find their own place in the world. – Pawo Choyning Dorji