Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
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Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#2Thank you for posting this. A key takeaway from the article is in the final paragraph: "if we allow it, we could live in a world that makes great strides forward, but that can never rid itself of the abhorrent authoritarian tool that is the concentration camp."
We allow these horrors to occur. That's not a judgment on anyone; I'm definitely part of the problem because I'm not part of the solution (to borrow a cliche).
But what can we do? That's a real question. I want to know what we can do. Yes, we can sign Amnesty International petitions, which is a step, but what else?
The HN community is a problem-solving community. Human rights violations of all sizes and shapes (including and especially the North Korea concentration camps) are a major problem to solve. What can technology do to help? Can we solve fatigue re: "prolonged exposure to blaring 24 hour news streams that fry sensibilities with their constant emotional appeals"? Can we mobilize people and keep them engaged in helping people they don't know?
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#32,292,133 were in prisons in the United States in 2009 [from wikipedia]. Even though I guess conditions are better, 200 000 doesn't sound like that many after all.
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#4If they still made the sears catalog I'd suggest the key to starting a peoples' revolt in North Korea would be to airdrop hundreds of thousands of catalogs across the country.
Even without understanding the language, just looking at all the goods would make people start wondering why they are being made to suffer so.
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#52,292,133 were in prisons in the United States in 2009 [from wikipedia]. Even though I guess conditions are better, 200 000 doesn't sound like that many after all.
Sorry, fijall, that the number of enslaved people (who are in many cases not guilty of crimes beyond disagreeing with a dictator) is not adequately horrific for you.
Perhaps if they were 200,000 people you knew... or even one you knew.
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#62,292,133 were in prisons in the United States in 2009 [from wikipedia]. Even though I guess conditions are better, 200 000 doesn't sound like that many after all.
I fail to see your point. Does the number of U.S. prisoners diminish the vileness of what goes on in North Korea? Are you saying/suggesting that the numbers of prisoners in the U.S. are so great that other countries are beyond criticism? That it's hypocritical for Americans or the American government to be shocked by the situation in North Korea? Can you clarify?
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#72,292,133 were in prisons in the United States in 2009 [from wikipedia]. Even though I guess conditions are better, 200 000 doesn't sound like that many after all.
Sorry, fijall, that the number of enslaved people (who are in many cases not guilty of crimes beyond disagreeing with a dictator) is not adequately horrific for you. Perhaps if they were 200,000 people you knew... or even one you knew.
It makes me sick that a large percentage of the people in American jails are there for crimes that hurt no one but themselves but to compare this to the people in North Korea is just asinine.
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#8If they still made the sears catalog I'd suggest the key to starting a peoples' revolt in North Korea would be to airdrop hundreds of thousands of catalogs across the country. Even without understanding the language, just looking at all the goods would make people start wondering why they are being made to suffer so.
How about SkyMall catalogs instead? They're already on the planes ;)
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#9"I can admire China’s growth in infrastructure and technology, it’s pursuit to compete on a global scale, but what good is all that growth if it allows these crimes to go on next door?"
I admire America's prominence in infrastructure and technology, it's continuing domination on a global scale, but what good is all that power when over 40,000 people and rising are murdered because of a drug war for which they are complicit next door?
It's great to try to solve problems that seem so fruitless and terrible, but isn't it akin to pointing your finger at a mirror?
Re: Satellite Images of North Korea Prison Camps Find 200,000 Living as Slaves
#10What I can't understand is how people can visit North Korea and not feel disgusted by giving support for that regime.
I believe North Korea is facing another famine this year. Given the conditions in North Korea and the apparent iron grip its regime has on power is it better not to provide food aid? I can't decide for myself if it's better, for the long term, to let the nation starve and not help the people out or to feed them. I don't see a clear cut right or wrong way to view aid to North Korea. It's a disturbing case.