Like there’s literally no point at all in talking to these people who believe Kim Jong Un strapped a man to a rocket and blasted him into space and murdered his family. You can show them shit written by westerners debunking everything and they’ll shrug and say “ok but North Korea is still bad.” Tell them that North Koreans are subhumans in South Korea and they’ll shrug and roll their eyes. “How can they be discriminated? They’re Koreans!” Then immediately assume they’re a sinister spy when they decide to go back home.
I don’t go out of my way to defend North Korea but my god. These people make me sound like I’m an adherent of Juche because they simply cannot fathom that perhaps they’re being lied to.
While I recognize the value of autarky and resource nationalism as a way of defending a country from imperialism, I think it's a method that also reifies the nation state, which is an 18th century anachronism that's been carried into the 21st century by the imperial powers.
That's the grounds on which I dont like North Korea.
But also it's probably a better place to live than a highly imperialized country in a similar position.
Why don't these people under sanction and the threat of eradication simply surrender the power of the state
Obviously they can't, but it's better to see the North Korean state as colonial imposition to be combated as far as is practically possible than as a good strategy. Take for example Venezuela's devolution of power to communes or Bolivia's evangelist internationalism. That's what combatting the state in the face of imperialism looks like.