Stories like these make me feel spoiled. I wish I knew how to help.
also their talk at Google is very, very impressive... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2531661047425836509
What does LiNK do?
We raise awareness about the human rights and humanitarian crisis in North Korea through the use of media and grassroots support. We help those who have fled their country because of this crisis – refugees – by sheltering them, advocating for them to governments all over the world, helping them resettle in countries that will accept them, and ultimately empowering them to live new lives.
It gives a very clear picture of what's happening in North Korea, and about the situation for North Koreans inside and outside of North Korea (I was going to write '...their country', but that doesn't really seem correct).
It is from 2007, but (as far as I know) the situation hasn't changed much. Althoug the South Korean "Sunshine Policy" has now been stopped. Due to a change of government a bit over a year ago, not in response to the more recent naval conflict.
Two things the speaker said that stood out to me: 1. This humanitarian disaster is totally man-made. 2. This is a place in which the word "evil" really does apply.
These people have been on complete lockdown for fifty years and shut out from the world, both mentally and physically.
This leadership needs to be destroyed, they are committing too many atrocities.
Trust me, I know, I've been "there" (in a general sense, not the geographical location).
personally I think the US should agree to take any refugees that come across the border into China. We can just take them to South Korea. Maybe that will make it easier for China to stop supporting this twisted situation.
I do agree though that these people need support.
I don’t think simplistic portrayals of history and ideologies – like yours – are very helpful.
Here is my version: Identify which concepts, ideas and methods turned North Korea to the state it is today. Discourage the use of those concepts, ideas and methods whenever they are proposed. This is probably best done by pointing out errors or inconsistencies or by presenting alternatives.
They even have bona fide anti-tyranny credentials: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Social_Democrati...
And that’s just one example.
I should probably clarify that I really have no qualms with the first sentence of the grandparent’s comment. A generalization, maybe, but markets do work great in many situations and freedom created tremendous wealth and happiness. I just think that you shouldn’t use the term “Socialism” in the way the grandparent did. It just has too much history and too many ideas, concepts and methods connected with it.
Isn't what they aim for more like "social insurance"? Insurance seems to be a concept that can be reconciled with capitalism.
All I wanted to say is that they started out with Socialism and didn’t turn everything they touched into North Korea. Which means that tyranny is not the logical consequence of Socialism.
Even Milton Friedman was in favor of redistributing wealth: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_income_tax
EDIT: I'm sorry to say, but it seems like the majority of people in the US use this word a lot without having any idea what it really means. It's become empty, a visceral cry, bypassing rational thought entirely. This too shall pass, I guess, but for now it's pretty sad.