A black Cuban diplomat was almost lynched when he tried to show his family the sights of Pyongyang.
This is over the top and hilarious.
North Korean women who return pregnant from China—the regime's main ally and protector—are forced to submit to abortions.
The regime has just bumped up a smidge in my view.
On the theory, I don't lend it any credence, as similar types from Hitchens' milieu have labeled Democratic Kampuchea a National Socialist project as well, which is of course absurd. I will agree that back in the 90's the DPRK abandoned all notions of Communism, which as I mentioned before was related to two factors; the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent death of Kim il-Sung three years later. China has effectively done the same thing, but has maintained its Maoist imagery as a fig leaf and in stark contrast, moved closer to the Western model of oligarchic capitalism whereas the leadership in Pyongyang has done everything within its power to avoid a transition to such a state which it views as degenerate. However, with the Dear Leader and now the Dear General passed on to the nether region, I suspect Kim Jong-un will be even more free to dabble in the application of his own myths he wishes to steep the population in.
As I said, there are respectable elements, but it is clearly not a fascist state. The leadership is dynastic and virtually monarchial which is the antithesis of fascist governance, which is of course meritocratic. Those fascist statesmen who have become so famous and immortalized now had ample opportunity to go about forging a dynasty and new royal bloodline. Hitler particularly had the love of a beautiful dame and the pick of any woman in Germany, not least of all Magda who was always pining for him. He consistently rejected marriage and child rearing stating to his last mistress before assuming power that he had "too big of a mission to fulfill". Furthermore, of course, the economy is not corporatist.
Plenty have suggested that Pyongyang's autarkic policies lend legitimacy to the theory that it has embarked on a course of economic fascism, but this is blatantly untrue. Autarky is not specifically fascist, and when promoted by fascist regimes, is generally intended to be a temporary fix rather than a long-term economic state.
"I am never guided by a possible assessment of my work" - President Vladimir Putin
"Nations whose nationalism is destroyed are subject to ruin." - Muammar Qaddafi
- By Rugoz
- By FiveofSwords