Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by johnl87 5592 days ago
This video kind of makes you wonder if people are really saying these things cause they mean it or if they are just being watched and have to act a certain way to reap the benefits of being a firm party supporter. Benefits like living in Pyongyang and actually having food and shelter. I feel that it's probably the latter in like 99% of cases.

My father in communist Poland wasn't able to do the research he wanted at his university at Poland cause he wasn't in the party. He cursed out his professor and called him a communist and got kicked out and had to transfer schools. Calling someone out as a communist was a slur against them because those reaping in party benefits were seen as betraying their own country.

I feel like it's a similar case in NKorea. You have to act that way cause your neighbors will tell the authorities about any signs of disloyalty and the family will disappear (into a re-education camp.) I think that's why these people on the videos when they are interviewed really chose their words carefully and make anything they say an attempt to glorify the dear leader. Their eyes give them away though. I feel like everyone is aware of it -- the conditions in their country vs the west, but they live in fear of expressing their own opinions so they just shut up and go about their lives.

1 comments

I did not see that in their eyes. These people are privileged, as the video said, so they're probably content with their status.