shriekingviolet posted:

encompassing so many often radically opposed politics as to be almost meaningless

but enough about the incomprehensible and meaningless dissolution of the NCP-LC

Ufuk_Surekli posted:

Synergy posted:

why is information and travel so restricted? i'd google it but i doubt i'd get a truthful answer

swampman posted:

In the same way, international travel for the sake of experiencing the world is not "wrong" in and of itself, but the modern form of international tourism is incredibly bourgeois (reminiscent of young lords surveying their holdings). Setting aside their justified xenophobia as a consequence of the American invasion, allowing a flood of Westerners into their country is probably just not something the average North Korean wants, nor does the average North Korean need to travel internationally since their family and concerns are at home, a place that they like. I haven't seen any evidence of mass repression of internal travel.

i know ive been a bit of an absentee here recently but id just like to jump in briefly with a bit of spot-guidance about this travel issue

to be perfectly clear - no sophisticated ideological defense of some alleged DPRK travel ban is necessary, no matter how well-meaning, for the simple reason that no blanket prohibition on international travel for citizens of the DPRK exists any more than it does for citizens of other countries. tens of thousands of Korean citizens freely travel abroad and back again the year round on a similar basis of restriction to nationals of other countries (for work, leisure, etc.), and conversely thousands of foreigners from all corners of the earth visit the DPRK every year.

i can appreciate that westerners who are politically sympathetic to DPRK, but a bit on the credulous side when it comes to american propaganda, might feel the need to respond to these tabloid-style ideas that some sort of blanket prison-camp travel ban is in place by trying to contrive an elaborate justification for why that might somehow be acceptable, based on speculative arguments about what DPRK citizens actually want, or on unfortunate contingencies of the US occupation of the Korean Peninsula, etc.

these sorts of apologia of the DPRK border infrastructure are based on a noble desire to give the benefit of the doubt, but ultimately play into imperialist hands anyway because the very allegations they seek to get around or justify are baseless canards in the first place.

if you're in any doubt about the ability of Koreans to travel outside of the DPRK, or of foreigners to travel into it, the best antidote to this is to ditch the sensationalist newspapers and find out directly for yourself. Europeans, even from countries with a position of official or implied hostility to the DPRK, can visit very straightforwardly on a tourist visa, and I personally know several people who have done - in 2016 it's no more procedurally difficult for western tourists to go and sight-see in Pyongyang than it is in e.g. Cairo or Sydney.

On the stopover flight on the way back, gawking reactionaries and Juche true-believers alike could very easily go and catch up with one of the many thousands of DPRK citizens mundanely working abroad in Russia, China and other nearby countries, and breathlessly swap notes on how both parties somehow managed to evade the "totalitarian" travel restrictions which are supposedly enforced by the DPRK...

(hint: super-secret travel spy techniques such as "apply for an appropriate visa" and "present a valid passport" are needed to circumvent the Hermit Kingdom's elite border controls. unlike in the glorious free world of course where as everyone knows you can just swan across from one country to another without let or hindrance, no papers required)

is there much legal emigration from north korea?

Panopticon posted:

tears posted:

really not seeing why you'd want to emigrate from the most democratic country in the world to the capitalist hellscape, but maybe thats just me

maybe they have family in south korea or china

there are avenues for legal emigration, right?

https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/explaining-north-korean-migration-to-china Implies that migration has always been possible across the DPRK-China border

Panopticon posted:

The 50,000 or so North Koreans living illegally in China

it seems there are not as many avenues for legal migration as there should be for a free society

Boo hoo

Panopticon posted:

The 50,000 or so North Koreans living illegally in China



it seems there are not as many avenues for legal migration as there should be for a free society

Because people in free societies never emigrate illegally

free society

whats a free society?

Panopticon posted:

a society that encourages the development of individuals and doesn't place unnecessary burdens on them

Now you're not even a liberal you're a full blown libertarian.

Synergy posted:

so the next part of my political journey is exploring different kinds of socialist economies, mainly centrally planned and market socialism

i know the rhizzone favors a planned economy but i'm not sure on the particulars. i read that Cuban article someone posted on here and it had a lot of great details on how their system works. i guess my biggest concern would be: what methods can be used to protect the voice of workers and workplace councils when planning is done?

Unions

polderstalin posted:

also quit smoking

hows he gonna manage the Tom Waits Croak