From what I've read out of North Korea, I'm convinced that they're really too far gone. When Kim Jong-Il died in 2011, Nicholas Kristof recalled his own experiences in the country, and concluded that the outpourings of grief in the nation were genuine. Why? Not because there was some genuine good, but because the Kim dynasty has succeeded in turning North Korea into this IRL:
They've been very successful in clamping down on different viewpoints, and, rather disturbingly, the homes in many towns and cities (at least, the ones with electricity grids) have these loudspeakers that pump in state propaganda. If you don't like listening to it, well, you can turn the volume down and that's it. You can't change the channel, and forget about turning it off. I suspect that keeping so much of its people at below subsistence levels might have helped in this regard.
They've been very successful in clamping down on different viewpoints, and, rather disturbingly, the homes in many towns and cities (at least, the ones with electricity grids) have these loudspeakers that pump in state propaganda. If you don't like listening to it, well, you can turn the volume down and that's it. You can't change the channel, and forget about turning it off. I suspect that keeping so much of its people at below subsistence levels might have helped in this regard.
Comparing the Universal Oneness of All Life to Yo Mama since 2010.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.
I was born with the gift of laughter and a sense the world is mad.