Nicktendo
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Posts posted by Nicktendo
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While I'm sure life in as a factory worker in China is not great that is just utter tosh. Check out the book I linked to on the first page please.
China haven't managed to kill 3 million of their own people (since Chairman Mao's time at least) through a disastrous food policy. While Chinas human rights record is not exactly great it is far far better than North Korea's. The main problem of course being that Juche doesn't work and has not since the fall of the USSR.
They don't produce enough food to feed everybody
"In 2006, Amnesty International reported that a national nutrition survey conducted by the North Korean government, the World Food Programme, and UNICEF found that 7% of children were severely malnourished; 37% were chronically malnourished; 23.4% were underweight; and one in three mothers was malnourished and anaemic as the result of the lingering effect of the famine. The inflation caused by some of the 2002 economic reforms, including the Songun or "Military-first" policy, was cited for creating the increased price of basic foods"
Peoples accounts of the lack of food in that book are horrifying, so people resort to having their own private vegetable plots, which they sell excess food on the black market which the North Korean government claim does not exist, but allow to continue because they know they cannot feed the population.
That's truly horrific, I didn't realise it was on such a huge scale, even though I knew it was. I retract my earlier comment regarding China and maintain that I think the North Korean govt. is evil
What annoys me though is people who bang on about problems in other countries and say its outrageous that the elite there are doing X and Y to their people yet they also live a lifestyle that contradicts their supposed point of view (e.g. they think exploitation in Africa is wrong but still buy Starbucks coffee, and don't give me that fairtrade crap, that's still an exploitary method). That's just being a hypocrite.Don't get me started.... :p
I appreciate that for Westerners to elect out of such systems is nigh on impossible especially after being used to it for so long, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't make even a little bit of effort.
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I've read "The Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith and admittedly lots of critiques of capitalist material, especially Friedman.
I admire the capitalist plight of freedom and democracy but it's a concept that cannot work without exploitation. The concept of 'progress' from capitalism is an unrealistic one as well. When is 'progress' realised or is it just a continual process designed to derive the earth of all it's natural minerals and resources for consumption?
I admit there are many, many problems with socialism and communism and experiments in the past could be considered failures, however, that's not to say these problems are manageable, as it seems capitalisms problems aren't, as we have seen in the past few years. I think global socialism would look very different from what was around during the cold war, with competition from the West.
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I started off thinking: "What the hell is Nicktendo on about, supporting North Korea?!" But the way you have presented your view now makes me realize that I agree very much with you. I'm not as passionate about the topic as you and so still find it hard to "like" the North Korean regime, but I agree with your line of thought.
I also do not 'like' North Korea. In no sense of the word. The interpretation of communism the government has adapted is twisted to say the least and gives any communist or indeed socialist a bad name. However, I genuinely believe without such an 'extreme' adaptation of it, it would struggle to survive against the modern world.
The regime is, by all accounts including my Uncle's brief interpretation there, evil. However, I appreciate the huge sacrifice the regular people there make, either through choice or not, against economic globalisation. I am convinced, in reality the average life there is no harder than that of a low-skilled worker in China, if very, very different in our understanding.
To me, they are one of the lasts symbol of hope against capitalism because they simply will not back down. They have the US in a fit over nuclear weapons when there is simply not a chance in hell they have any. They stand their ground against market-driven global domination, when other corrupt governments are falling to the West all the time in Latin America, Africa and Asia. I do believe they will eventually crumble and in my opinion it will be a sad day for the plight of the working man against economic oppression.
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See you all bash me for being so anti-capitalist but I only have this view because of the immense amount of stuff I've read on the subject. I appreciate, that from where we sit it's difficult to comprehend, so I'm going away to compile a list of stuff for you all to read, not because I want to change your opinion, but because it's such a wealth of stuff to consider, that it can't just happen overnight.
Like the majority (on a Nintendo forum ffs), I'm from a stable middle class family who should in reality have no qualms with my way of life, as I've got it pretty good, but when I discovered the other side of the coin, it truly did upset and anger me. Now I'm not saying that capitalism is the worst thing evarrzzz!!11 (I should have put a smiliey on my last post) but it's simply not good... at all. And it will honestly result in the death of us all, especially when the oil runs out....
The people in control have absolutely no care what-so-ever to make things better for anyone. They only want to line their own pockets, nothing else matters. It is an evil, rotten system that puts the desires (not even needs) of the few above the literal needs of the many. The IMF and global bodies such as the World Bank are so utterly corrupt to the core in the way they operate, that the world is still effectively under colonial rule. Places like North Korea, which are exempt from this way of life seem so utterly alien to us because we simply cannot comprehend how they function, whether it is good or bad, for me is not the issue, it is a symbol of hope AGAINST capitalism, regardless of what condition the country is in.
The US is so anti-communist because it knows against that kind of system it cannot compete, because there is no one to exploit to support their way of life, this is why they funded and supported the Taliban against Soviet invasion in the 70s, a plan which now has massively backfired as the Taliban are standing up against Western oppression and global domination with the weapons the US gave them in the first place! (Please do not make the mistake of assuming I support the Taliban, because I really, really don't - they are even more backwards than the West and so blinded by religion it's untrue), but importantly, they are another group who will not just lie down to the Steamroller of capitalism.
Noam Chomsky is a good place to start reading, Howard Zinn is also excellent (particularly A People's History of the United States), as mentioned Naomi Klein's books No Logo and The Shock Doctrine. Economist David Harvey is another truly excellent author with numerous books on the Third World effects of capitalism. Jared Diamond and Gustavo Esteva look at the affects on Latin America in particular and the influence the US has over the region. There are literally hundreds of places to find a wealth of information about what the pursuit of profit does to the people of this earth, Anything related to "post development theory."
If you're not big on books then you MUST watch Zeitgeist. It's one and a half hours long and will literally transform your outlook on life and make you want to know more or do your own research, as will who killed the electric car. Both are available on Youtube.
Don't think that just because you have a comfortable life, everything is great. It's not. We can only live like this because of the unimaginable sacrifice billions of people make every single day of their lives. I know given the choice, none of us would choose to live like that, so why should they? We are not better than them, we are all human. To turn a blind eye, is to be ignorant and in-human. Simple geography dictates which system we are born into, education and action can change it. Some of us are in a better position than others to use the opportunities given to us, instead of just ignoring injustice on a massive scale, yet we are so ingrained into our way of life that someone with views similar to mine is labelled 'fringe' or 'red terrorist' so really the fight for justice in the third world is already lost.
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Are you so anti capitalist that you believe nothing can be worse, only just as bad?
Pretty much. You can't even begin to imagine how bad capitalism is because in the West we can live a whole life without even seeing the extent of the damage it does.
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All the evidence suggests that North Korea is a real world 1984 and though I despise the cult of consumerism, it is a small ill compared to complete and utter totalitarianism.
That's a fair point, however...
People enslaved by consumerism - 1-3 billion (liberal and conservative estimates)
People enslaved by totalitarianism - 20-25 million.
You try living without 'choice' and 'freedom' for a while, see how you like it.I do live without freedom and choice. I have insufficient funds to fulfil my material desires. So to do so I will have to resort to crime. :p
Freedom is a myth. We are free to choose who we want to lead us. But we still have to spend roughly 50%+ plus of our wage just to live/survive or face jail/penalites for financial crimes. That's not freedom, that's being economically enslaved.
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Ah fair enough.
Well hey, if you want to suggest that the opposite is the case, be my guest by all means. I'm just saying it's... unlikely I'll be convinced.
Also, I'm not exactly pro capitalist myself. But do you really think it's pitfalls are worse than the troubles that the people of North Korea experience?
It's a very difficult and complex process to explain on a forum. The working of the capitalist system on the Third World is a horrific and inhuman act which enslaves the world's poorest to support the luxurious lifestyles of the West. The way it is all linked together is very difficult to explain and understand.
However in our comfortable, individualist lifestyle where we are influenced by the mass media it can be even more difficult to comprehend this situation and instead it's easier to target everyone who doesn't follow our agenda (namely Iran and North Korea) - We can label them as brutal, harsh, dictatorial - but the fact is, we know very, very little of North Korea other than what we are told by the generally right wing media (who, as always, have an agenda).
I am NOT arguing that North Korea is perfect or even good. I, like probably everyone else, does not know the extent of what happens there. We are told that Kim Jong Il runs a cult of personality. It's highly probable this is the case, but you have to understand that having communism and capitalism in the same world is unworkable - people get seduced by material goods and wealth and proceed to value themselves above (at the expense of) society, when in reality this lifestyle is only achievable for a marginal percentage of the population, much like in the West. What North Korea has done is removed this aspect from their society by installing a cult of personality. So while to us it may seem barbaric, is it not just the opposite in the way that we worship the stuff we can buy and spend our money on? I can accept that this may be a difficult concept to agree with but this is simply my take on why there is a cult of personality. They do have the internet and mobile phones to communicate internally as external communication would undermine the regime.
I know pretty much everyone will know where they stand on the above issue, and I'd be with you, but "choice" and "freedom" is merely a smokescreen to give people an excuse to open the world up to exploitation. I can guarantee if North Korea was not the way it was, it would just be another production line for the West and people's actual quality of life would be no better, if not worse as the state provides them with a home and what little food they can produce. The country is far too small to effectively sustain communism, the land is poor and they cannot feed the entire population because of trade restrictions imposed by the West. So, before you shout about the government being shit and not being able to support their people, without food imports, they can't because the land is not suitable for such an extent of agricultural production. However, if they DID open up and accept help from the West, just like the rest of South East Asia (namely Vietnam) it would come with conditions, such as freeing up the economy. So they are in a lose, lose situation.
What's really sad, is that this kind of practise has become the norm in the wider world and when someone stands up to this kind of imperialism they are labelled as evil. I would argue that the cult of personality sustained by Kim Jong Il is wrong, however in context of the wider world I can understand why it's perhaps necessary (even if I don't agree with it, per se). However I DO think that much of the stuff we are told about North Korea is distorted in an effort to undermine the regime, if things are bad in North Korea, then much of the blame must be attributed to the West for isolating the country and imposing barbaric restrictions. People attribute poor human rights to the country but as I mentioned before it is because they have not been able to sustain the current system in the country since the collapse of the Soviet Union which provided them with support and food.
And for all of you that have such a harsh view of communism, it is not evil. Certainly no more evil than capitalism. In 1996, 5 years after communism fell, the Communist Party of Russia still polled 40% of the vote in the general election despite 5 years of anti-communist media, propaganda, new found "freedom" and "opportunity." So while they had initially got rid of it, many people realised that Western life was not all it was cracked up to be.
Here you go, read the part about "The 1996 presidential election" and make your own mind up http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_post-Soviet_Russia#The_1996_presidential_election
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China and Russia. Moved on. Developed. Simple.as.
Actually Russia and Eastern Europe was plunged into deep poverty. Simple facts on the United Nations Development Programme...
-Life expectancy was at an average 67 at the end of the Soviet Union - 62 in the 90s in Russia (for men it was just 60). The suicide rate doubled.
-Unemployment quadrupled between 1989 and 1994.
-HIV infections rose 8 times between 1990 and 2000 due to poor social condition, increased use of drugs and expensive healthcare.
-The cost of living rose from 2.5% of income in Soviet times to an average of 40% in modern Russia.
Development FTW.
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Cut the bullshit, Democracy is a better system and you know it.
ipaul has spoken. Close the thread now.
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Isn't there a lot more inhuman stuff going on in North Korea than simply people not having mobile phones or internet?
Depends what you define as inhuman. I would say working 13 hours a day in an Apple factory for a pittance, to provide the West with material over priced bollocks is pretty inhuman. Especially when you have no other way of making a living.
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That's one of the most contemptible statements I think I've ever read on here.
By the way iPaul, that video is horrifically biased to the point I think he's making stuff up. I think Kim Jong Il is a tit, and the way people worship him is absurd, however saying that there is no emotion and love in NK is just pure bullshit and there is no way he paid a bribe to get in the country, it's impossible. You can ONLY get in by applying for a visa (about $3,000) for two weeks. You have to have pre-screening in China and even then you get two members of the Korean Workers Party who accompany your trip and SHOW you what they want you to see. There is NO other way to see or get into North Korea, so what your guy in the video is saying is pretty much bullshit.
If you open up your mind, you will see that while aspects of North Korea are horrific (pretty much Kim Jong Il), it is a country which just has a different take on life, which many people can't understand or comprehend, which is why they are fearful of it and so damning of it. No system is perfect but I'd hate to live in a world where there wasn't an outlook on life where making and having money was king.
I am struggling to see how anyone can take the side of a dictator, who has ideals that are of a communist past, that has been forgotten by the rest of the world which has moved on to better thingsYeah sure, 40% of Americans living below the poverty line is a "better thing" and a little thing called the Global financial crisis is a "better thing."
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North Korea are keeping the dream alive, more power to them I say. Fending off Western imperialism is evidently an impossible task and all we can do is label them evil and backwards.
My uncle's been to North Korea and while there are 'issues' that us Westerners get in a fit over and start spouting bullshit about human rights, "oh they're not allowed mobile phones or the global access to the internet... NO HUMAN RIGHTS, EVIL etc." They are completely excluded from global markets, so their population is not open to exploitation by globalisation and corporate takeovers like much of China is. The country is far too small to support itself which is why they get so much help from China.
It's simply a case that they won't open up to democracy (Western invention that bred Thatcher, Regan and Bush so, yeah... less than perfect), they won't open up to global markets essentially supporting US/Western imperialism, they're not a materialist society so they don't buy stuff they don't need to support global systems and they have a leader that terrifies the world because he's so secretive he throws the world into a panic about nuclear weapons, which in reality, is a farce because there is no possible way they could ever afford them - I believe it's just a smokescreen to stop the West marching in and ILLEGALLY removing the regime in the name of 'democracy' so that the 20 or so million people can be exploited.
Very sad indeed, when you see it from the other perspective. The US will not rest until the entire world is in their custody. So more power to North Korea (and China).
Live and let live.
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Oh mon dieu. Il est arrivé. Good luck to all you shopto pre-orderers. It should come today.
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F1 2010 PS3 version Dispatched from Shopto.net
I'll be playing tomorrow
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+1 for Fubar
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PES 2011 is pretty good, major step forward from '09 and '10 but takes some getting used to.
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Any offers?
Odwin: I don't wanna hack my UK Wii to be honest. I know there's minimum risk in reality but it's easier to just keep them separate.
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wow, sounds good, but im afraid of image retention on plasma tv's. I sometimes play games for 5 hours and i dont want to get any scoring burned into my tv.
Also most wii games are not full widescreen but have little black bars, isnt that a dead sentince for your tv?
Image retention is practically non-existent on modern plasmas. It's generally a scare story to get consumers into buying LCD screens.
While we're on the topic, Plasma is much, much better for displaying Wii games. Many large LCD screens will cause the image to suffer from huge amounts of 'jaggies' - component cable or not. So if you're not serious about HD, but want a big TV for your Wii, go plasma. They are generally cheaper than LCD as well as they are cheaper to manufacture when LCD screens hit 40 inches +
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Does anyone own anything of immense rarity. I have these 7 CDs which I got as a present from my ex-girlfriend about 4 years ago. I have no idea how much they're worth (can anyone enlighten me???), but they're pretty cool and I'd probably never sell them anyway :p
Top Left - Majora's Mask Orchestrations. 11 Songs from MM performed by an Orchestra (not sure which one...)
Top Right - Legend of Zelda sound collection. Compilation CD of the most memorable MIDI tunes from the NES, SNES, 64 and GC Zelda games.
Centre Left - Majora's Mask Soundtrack. Original MIDI soundtrack of the game. And of course, pretty epic.
Middle - Wind Waker Soundtrack. 2CD masterpiece of the original Wind Waker Soundtrack. Probably my favourite.
Centre Right - Ocarina of Time Soundtrack. All the MIDI audio tracks from Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time. It's amazing, like a journey through the game and story purely via sound.
Bottom Left - OOT Hyrule Symphony. Yes, it is a Koji Kondo led orchestration of the OOT soundtrack. Yes, it is incredible.
Bottom Right - Legend of Zelda "re-arranged" - 8 Tracks of newly recorded material inspired by OOT.
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I'd rather Murk a few people to finish 16th in a Hispania than Win in a McLaren or Red Bull.
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I have a UK Console now and will be re-buying the few games I still want. I only really use my US one for homebrew.
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Sounds good. I just had to reconfirm my PP credit card, so it will take 2-3 days. If that is not OK, I could always create another account on my brothers card or something.. but Id rather not. Is the small wait OK?
No problem with the NTSC. Btw, how are the games? Complete? Scratched? How they holding up :P? if theyre all fine, I dont need pics. Thanks.
They're all in excellent condition, they've been laying around for a few months and had little or no play. But yeah, I don't mind waiting. I'll PM you my paypal details - (can you pay by PP Gift? It eliminates seller fees). If you could send me your address that would be sweet and I'll post as soon as the PP transaction goes through. If you change your mind and do want pics, just ask.
Cheers.
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Yeah if you can send it paypal Gift? Let me know your postal address via PM and I'll send you my PP details.
Just to make 100% sure - you know these are US NTSC Wii games and as such will NOT work on a UK PAL machine??
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£20 for all 3 including postage?
How do you solve a problem like North Korea?
in General Chit Chat
Posted
There was this whole thread a month or so ago...