Real and Perceived Human Rights Problems in the DPRK

soviet78

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Soviet cogitations: 4494
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 07 Oct 2004, 22:04
Ideology: Marxism-Leninism
Resident Soviet

04 Apr 2014, 20:27

A fellow comrade of mine sent me an article presenting an overview of perceived and real human rights problems in the DPRK, and how the Western academic and especially media representation has skewed perceptions of problems in North Korea to such an extent that few real existing problems can be discussed in a more or less neutral and constructive manner.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14672715.2014.863581

It's a short article, and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.

"The thing about capitalism is that it sounds awful on paper and is horrendous in practice. Communism sounds wonderful on paper and when it was put into practice it was done pretty well for what they had to work with." -MiG

OP-Bagration

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Soviet cogitations: 2298
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 10 Aug 2010, 14:21
Party Bureaucrat

04 Apr 2014, 21:13

Very interesting paper, thanks.

"Fishing is part of agriculture" Gred
"Loz, you are like me" Yami
"I am one of the better read Marxists on this site" Gred

Dagoth Ur

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Soviet cogitations: 14448
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 10 Sep 2006, 22:05
Ideology: Marxism-Leninism
Philosophized

04 Apr 2014, 22:32

Indeed a very good paper. I liked it quite a bit especially this bit:

Quote:
The corollary is the resort to vilification, often on an ad hominem basis, of scholars and policy officials who do not toe the official line on supposed “truths” about North Korea.

Unfortunately many communists (and even worse anarchists) repeat this same tactic. Especially on such shitholes as RevLeft.

Also:

Quote:
UN humanitarian agencies that have worked in the DPRK since the mid 1990s have not provided evidential support for the government’s use of political classification as the criteria for food allocation. Their research considered that the food rationing system was based on a matrix of occupation, gender, and age, with those in heavy industrial jobs allocated higher grain rations than those in light industrial jobs, young people, and the elderly.46 What is true is that loyalty to the government was found to count more than anything else in determining social status and those with high social status had, almost by definition, better life opportunities. Political loyalty had therefore an indirect but important relationship to standard of living, including income opportunities and food accessibility.

This is a pretty significant counterpoint to so-called "songon policy".

Comrade Gulper

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Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44
Ideology: None
Philosophized

04 Apr 2014, 23:15

What it all boils down to is that the DPRK regime is a bad one, but bad in slightly different ways than the West is willing to objectively quantify as bad. Nowhere in the report does the revelation occur that DPRK is actually a great -or good, or average, or mediocre- place to live. Rest assured, this is a shithouse, and it's ripe for collapse, whether or not it occurs on the West's watch.

Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."

Dagoth Ur

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Soviet cogitations: 14448
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 10 Sep 2006, 22:05
Ideology: Marxism-Leninism
Philosophized

04 Apr 2014, 23:17

Yeah except that is nobody's contention. In fact the article makes it clear that India and Indonesia have far worse health stats than the DPRK but neither of them are pariahs or given the level of unsavory media attention, and neither of them are under ridiculously severe sanctions.

This is classic though. Claim that DPRK is actively lied about for political reasons, next they get accused of thinking the DPRK is some paradise or something.

Comrade Gulper

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Soviet cogitations: 12389
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 18 Apr 2010, 04:44
Ideology: None
Philosophized

05 Apr 2014, 05:33

India is a nuclear state, and could easily be holding its neighbors hostage to the constant threat of provocation unless it receives monetary and food aid in return for not blowing them up. Even if a regional power such as China were to call its bluff, there'd be hell to pay.

Yet, no one ever hears of such things. Neither India or Indonesia are paradises by any stretch of the imagination, but they're not hermetically sealed, fantasy fueled nuthouses, either.

Miss Strangelove: "You feed giants laxatives so goblins can mine their poop before the gnomes get to it."

OP-Bagration

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Soviet cogitations: 2298
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 10 Aug 2010, 14:21
Party Bureaucrat

05 Apr 2014, 13:24

Quote:
India is a nuclear state, and could easily be holding its neighbors hostage to the constant threat of provocation unless it receives monetary and food aid in return for not blowing them up. Even if a regional power such as China were to call its bluff, there'd be hell to pay.

India has more than 1 billion inhabitants. They don't have enough nukes to feed them all. DPRK has only 20 millions. India isn't at war. DPRK is.

"Fishing is part of agriculture" Gred
"Loz, you are like me" Yami
"I am one of the better read Marxists on this site" Gred

Dagoth Ur

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Soviet cogitations: 14448
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 10 Sep 2006, 22:05
Ideology: Marxism-Leninism
Philosophized

05 Apr 2014, 20:53

Also instead of choking sanctions they've got first world nations lining up to invest in India (and have for awhile) and still worse than the DPRK.

Yeqon

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Soviet cogitations: 1411
Defected to the U.S.S.R.: 29 Sep 2011, 13:51
Ideology: Democratic Socialism
Party Member

05 May 2014, 14:49

Thank you for the indeed interesting paper.

The great art of life is sensation, to feel that you exist, even in pain.