Changes in North Korea?

[Jacob]

Interesting: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20773542

[garbon]

He lost me after this bit:

It all made for a different feeling. Part of me misses the sense of isolation that was so strong on my previous trips to the country. Walking along those huge, empty streets, you would suddenly find yourself in a pocket of silence. Different parts of the city would shut down and wake up with the erratic electricity supply.

I don't much like the idea of North Korea adopting all the annoying stuff we have in Western consumer societies like the advertising and traffic.

[Maximus]

Yea, I don't care for those things either, but they would be a huge improvement in NK.

[CountDeMoney]

I don't much like the idea of North Korea adopting all the annoying stuff we have in Western consumer societies like the advertising and traffic.

WTF, dude.

[The Brain]

He's a nutcase.

[Valmy]

Just another self-loathing Euro.  The same sort of people who used to point out how superior the Soviet Union was to the shallow blah blah of the West.  Hell they will point out how superior a toxic waste dump is to the shallow blah blah of the West.

[Grey Fox]

He did kinda rescind his point on the next couple of sentences.

Interesting article, none the less.

[CountDeMoney]

"If only the West had more reeducation camps like North Korea!"

[garbon]

He did kinda rescind his point on the next couple of sentences.

Interesting article, none the less.

Yeah I saw that but then it made me wonder why he felt like saying that initial bit at all. Seems like some sort of wistful/pastoral look at North Korea - trying to tease out advantages that aren't really advantages.

[CountDeMoney]

Well, there's getting away from it all, and then there's getting away from it all in a police state.

[Grey Fox]

He did kinda rescind his point on the next couple of sentences.

Interesting article, none the less.

Yeah I saw that but then it made me wonder why he felt like saying that initial bit at all. Seems like some sort of wistful/pastoral look at North Korea - trying to tease out advantages that aren't really advantages.

He's an Orchestra conductor, a german too, that's just the world he lives in.

[The Brain]

He's the kind of German who helped people get rid of the annoying glasses and gold teeth.

[CountDeMoney]

HEY ANYBODY SEE A RED PEN?

[garbon]

Well, there's getting away from it all, and then there's getting away from it all in a police state.

I've never once been in a financial district in a city and thought this desolation is really great.

[Jacob]

Yeah, the guy comes across as a bit silly and self-absorbed at times (so a great fit for languish). That aside, I thought his observations about the changes in the streets of Pyongyang were interesting.