Liberation News wrote: ![]() "By what standard of morality can the violence used by a slave to break his chains be considered the same as the violence of a slave master?" - Walter Rodney
I watched an Abby Martin interview with this guy a while back. It was right after he came back from his trip to the DPRK where he spoke the same stuff written in the article above. I myself am planning to take a trip to the DPRK within the next couple of years.
![]() Nationalism is an infantile disease; the scourge of mankind.
I went there myself a few years back and this article is largely true. Although there are a few things I think I should point out.
Pyongyang is a nice city but that's because it is the showcase capital. Koryo Tours (who I went with) pointed out that it is not representative of the rest of the DPRK, and driving through other areas, we could see that. North Koreans smile and joke a lot when they know that foreigner visitors are watching them and expecting them to do such. More often than not they will just ignore you. A lot of the time large groups of "partying" North Koreans seemed to just appear from nowhere and have a great time. They will invite you to join in official dances and celebrations but they won't just try and strike up a conversation with you.
Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44 Ideology: None Philosophized
I haven't been to DPRK, but the video I posted earlier in this section of the forum pretty much tells the tale - and from an officially sanctioned perspective at that. Anyone who says Pyongyang isn't the most grey and lifeless city (apart from an actual ghost town, many of which still retain a great deal more character and charm) they've ever seen is simply propagandizing for the regime.
Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."
Quote: It's certainly grey - a byproduct of putting up so many cheap apartment blocks - but I wouldn't call it lifeless. There's plenty of people doing normal things (working, commuting, leisure etc.). Even the North Korean regime can't just make millions of people do nothing all day everyday. Another thing in the original article that the author might want to revise is his view on the quality of the buildings! Considering the recent apartment block collapse I think it is safe to say he is talking crap about that one (although probably out of willful ignorance).
I personally don't think that the lack of advertisements make for a dull or grey city. In the video Gulper posted, I actually thought that the city looked quite beautiful and I would bet that if you were to show it to anyone without first mentioning that it's Pyongyang first, it would take a while before most people guessed that it were a city in Korea let alone Asia.
I don't think that the video displays a dead city like Gulper suggests. It may not be alive as a thriving metropolis, but then again it still looks a lot better than most of the cities I've been to. ![]() Nationalism is an infantile disease; the scourge of mankind.
Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44 Ideology: None Philosophized Yeqon wrote: You're entitled to your opinion, but I stand by mine. First of all, anywhere there's a thriving crowd of truly free people, there's going to be some littering, a bit of bragging and swearing, some loitering and roistering about, and quite a lot of cars on the road. Do people who feel they're truly free shuffle about like zombies on the pavement? As for the city not looking "Korean" or "Asian", that's a rather damning pronouncement in itself, on several levels, don't you think? Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."
Comrade Gulper wrote: I didn't mean it like that. When I first watched the video, the city's greenery and tranquility reminded me of my beloved Kiev in the early hours of the morning before the morning rush hour. All I meant was that nothing in the video apart from the noticeable Juche monuments really set the city apart from say a city in Europe in the early morning hours. I also didn't think that the people walked or looked anything like zombies. Other videos on YouTube show that the residents look and act very normal. Even the lack of heavy traffic has a certain charm to it. It makes for a change from the constant honking and yelling of the daily rush-hour traffic jams. But like you said it's all a matter of opinion. Constantly being surrounded by too much people tends to give me a headache. ![]() Nationalism is an infantile disease; the scourge of mankind. Comrade Gulper wrote: Now we know. Freedom of thought is represented by the number and density of assholes on the street. ![]() Forum Rules Red_Son: Bob Avakian is the Glenn Beck of communism. "Le prolétariat; c'est moi." - King Indigo XIV
And having cars clogging up the fragging streets. Say what you will about the DPRK but at least they aren't contributing to the destruction of the planet via car culture.
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Well it's only because NK is so poor. Otherwise they still have perhaps one of the best highway systems of all ex-communist countries which, i guess, was built with people there actually being able to afford cars ( at some point in the future ) in mind. Nowadays peasants use it to dry grain. And from what i've seen the public transportation there ( even in the showcase Pyongyang ) isn't that much better either. Not that people are allowed to freely move around the country anyway.
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