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Inside North Korea

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 2:04 pm
by Hostrauser
Stunning, horrifying, amazing. The closest thing to an Orwellian-state this world has ever seen. Please, devote one hour of your time to watch this (it's in 14 separate five-minute parts, so feel free to space them out).

VICE, VBS.TV, and Shane Smith deserve Pulitzer Prizes for this work.

http://bit.ly/aWYqVi

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 10:58 pm
by ZJH
Quite possibly one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen, mostly because it's real.

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 8:28 am
by Hostrauser
Not just real: surreal. It's incredible to fathom that this place even exists. The view into a country where the government has 100% control over all information and thought is both fascinating and terrifying.

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Wed Mar 03, 2010 1:43 am
by The Aceman
Watched the videos, fascinating and scary. Makes me want to learn the truth behind North Korea, what really goes on there, and not just what the government allows a few select tourists see. They just put on one big elaborate play for the guy, I would like to see how their lives are actually lived, delve deeper, but I guess that's hard to do.

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:11 pm
by seanrj
More government is not better. That is what I got from this. People in our country should think about that when we discuss government-run or government-mandated (fill-in-the-blank).

It usually starts innocently and benevolently and can end up with the government running the entirety of the existence of the populace.

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:02 pm
by justinian
seanrj wrote:More government is not better. That is what I got from this. People in our country should think about that when we discuss government-run or government-mandated (fill-in-the-blank).

It usually starts innocently and benevolently and can end up with the government running the entirety of the existence of the populace.
What government-provided service are you prepared, right now, to live without? Maybe police services? Infrastructure? Public schools?

With all due respect, maybe we should watch out for generalizations.

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 10:03 pm
by seanrj
Schools, police, and fire are local government services. I am referring to the national (Federal in our case) government programs, much like the national government in north korea is in literally total control.

I really do not think that the Federal government should be involved in education to the extent that they are. I definitely do not think that they should be sticking their noses into things like a national health care system or worming their way into the banking/financial systems. Regulation is one thing, but crossing the line into control is too much. The more the Federal government controls, the less that our local communities do. The centralization/consolidation of power/authority is a danger to any free society.

That is the point that I was trying to make.

Re: Inside North Korea

Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 4:22 pm
by justinian
seanrj wrote:Schools, police, and fire are local government services. I am referring to the national (Federal in our case) government programs, much like the national government in north korea is in literally total control.

I really do not think that the Federal government should be involved in education to the extent that they are. I definitely do not think that they should be sticking their noses into things like a national health care system or worming their way into the banking/financial systems. Regulation is one thing, but crossing the line into control is too much. The more the Federal government controls, the less that our local communities do. The centralization/consolidation of power/authority is a danger to any free society.

That is the point that I was trying to make.
I get your point. Your beef is with centralization and bureaucratization. It is inefficient and nurtures corruption and abuses of power.