I have nothing but sympathy for the country as it was the victim of imperialist games being.played by much larger nations. However I am already outspokenly critical of the government of my own country where some legal safety nets exist to protect me from government reprisals. I am not the sort of person who could easily remain uncritical of an authoritarian regime, visiting would likely be bad for my health.
I am not basing this on being propagandised to or swallowing a line, I am basing it on a series of conversations I had with a Korean I found sincere and believable, certainly to a greater extent than randoms on here.
I have deep seated reservations with the Kim family, I don’t blame the people of North Korea for them but I personally would not visit without radical social change.
Ironically this is EXACTLY the stance I take on the USA and the Trump family, which I am sure a lot of people in this community would agree with.
My point was not about the presence or lack thereof of “authoritarianism”, but the comparison of the DPRK to the US. If it were only about “authoritarianism” then there are plenty of other countries very widely considered “authoritarian”.
Ironically this is EXACTLY the stance I take on the USA and the Trump family, which I am sure a lot of people in this community would agree with.
I think you’re rather missing the point as USAmericans do participate heavily in US imperialism, and reap the rewards of US imperialism. There is no North Korean imperialism to speak of, on the other hand.
I have nothing but sympathy for the country as it was the victim of imperialist games being.played by much larger nations. However I am already outspokenly critical of the government of my own country where some legal safety nets exist to protect me from government reprisals. I am not the sort of person who could easily remain uncritical of an authoritarian regime, visiting would likely be bad for my health.
I am not basing this on being propagandised to or swallowing a line, I am basing it on a series of conversations I had with a Korean I found sincere and believable, certainly to a greater extent than randoms on here.
I have deep seated reservations with the Kim family, I don’t blame the people of North Korea for them but I personally would not visit without radical social change.
Ironically this is EXACTLY the stance I take on the USA and the Trump family, which I am sure a lot of people in this community would agree with.
My point was not about the presence or lack thereof of “authoritarianism”, but the comparison of the DPRK to the US. If it were only about “authoritarianism” then there are plenty of other countries very widely considered “authoritarian”.
I think you’re rather missing the point as USAmericans do participate heavily in US imperialism, and reap the rewards of US imperialism. There is no North Korean imperialism to speak of, on the other hand.