Comment by powertower
13 years ago
If you think you can legitimately compare the living conditions, political environment, and human suffering in North Korea that with the USA, you might have also brainwashed yourself (it happens when you take everything you have for granted).
In NK you'd be lucky to get 1 meal a day. Over here poor people are morbidly fat.
And at the end of the day, you're not a prisoner, if you hate it here so much, you can leave this country any day you want to. But can't say the same for people in NK.
How is it that you think I was talking about a country other than NK? Is there a country other than NK with such a piss poor human rights record?
Generally when someone murders one person we regard them as a horrid individual we don't say their not that bad because they only killed 1 instead of 10 like that Ted Bundy guy.
I didn't say I was living in a police state, the country I live in hasn't executed anyone in 40 years, and we certainly didn't think it was a big deal to destroy our nuclear weapons arsenal, stop stockpiling nuclear weapons, or ban landmines. I simply said we should stop hosting websites in countries with numerous years of history of horrid human rights abuse. Imagine living in a country where as recently at 1960 that certain classes of people were forbidden from eating lunch with other classes of people.
I find your definition of police state interesting, would you say that NK would stop being a police state with different emigration policies?
You're right! The United States is JUST LIKE NORTH KOREA! It's uncanny. Like that one time Obama starved the entire population of the country and proved his international bona fides by meeting with Dennis Rodman.
Stop being obtuse.
Fantastic - And I mean no sarcasm. Your previous comment was brilliantly written, allowing the user to draw his own conclusion. Except for that part 'incarcerate people at a rate higher than any other country' which gives it away...
"Is there a country other than NK with such a piss poor human rights record?"
Sure. Germany and Russia to name just two. Several European countries in degree if not in sheer magnitude.
And what country are you from?
Edit: Oh I get it, if you you don't say what country you can pretend they are perfect. Brilliant.
> the country I live in hasn't executed anyone in 40 years, and we certainly didn't think it was a big deal to destroy our nuclear weapons arsenal, stop stockpiling nuclear weapons, or ban landmines.
From all countries with nuclear weapon 40 years without death penalty match only UK.
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> If you think you can legitimately compare the living conditions, political environment, and human suffering in North Korea that with the USA, you might have also brainwashed yourself
The parent comment wasn't comparing NK to the USA.
It was comparing the USA to every other developed country, where the USA ranks very poorly.
"It was comparing the USA to every other developed country, where the USA ranks very poorly."
http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM
It does?
Doesn't Europe have at least one violent ethnic conflict going on at any given time? Usually several?
If the best example of current US performance relative to other developed countries you can think of is "killed fewer people than other protagonists in last century's World Wars" (which is essentially what your cited stats show) you may as well not bother.
n.b. I'm sure Rummel would grudgingly admit that the US is far worse than any other developed country for committing acts of "democide" this century. In fact it's probably the only metric in which a sane person could argue the US might have performed worse than North Korea in recent years.
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> It does?
Bottom of the list for everything that matters.
http://www.oecd.org/statistics/
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Here's today's:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/at-least-22-peopl...
Don't deny them their straw man.
It is almost like the difference between 1984 and a Brave New World.
Ok, maybe not, but you can compare the two. The US is not getting better.
I wouldn't be so fast as to dismiss obesity. Especially when the culture is saturated with body images that are so far from the folks who are that size, and are so far from being able to easily lose that weight.