u/Outside_Bug6347 - originally from r/GenZhou
Got banned from other subreddits for this but here I go again. I consider myself a socialist, very pro Cuba, Vietnam and Laos, highly critical of Stalin and Moa but sympathetic to modern day China. Even though I have qualms with Moa (cultural revolution was a bit of a flop but I know that wasn’t his fault entirely and it had positives) and after reading a lot of work in the gulags Stalin did seem to be overly authoritarian though he did raise quality of life for many people. My main problem with this sort of modern communist Reddit community is the defence of North Korea. I do not think North Korea is defensible, South Koreans enjoy a quality of life that is clearly higher and it’s almost impossible for me to wrap my brain around anyone defending that regime. Thoughts?
u/WeilaiHope - originally from r/GenZhouThe nation has so many sanctions on it, even China has been compelled to sanction it, it isn't possible to judge North Korea fairly without understanding the crippling effect of the sanctions. Its essentially cut off from world trade and resources.
Their agriculture is completely stunted, they cannot get access to fertilisers, machinery, enough vehicle fuel, yet they have millions to feed. Feeding a country isn't that hard anymore because of these things, without them NK is sort of relying on pre industrial farming to feed a modern small country. And then western analysts say "look, the regime can't feed its people" yea neither would the US without combine harvesters and such.
In terms of the tyrannical shit the regime does, there's no doubt the outlandish stuff is just made up, much of it is extremely absurd and only believed because it constantly gets repeated. The sources are the same as those claiming weird shit about China which we know isn't true since China is more accessible.