 |
| Same shit, different times |
First, lets look at what North Korea is, it's a dictatorship, that's for sure. What more, they aren't a primitive (well perhaps compared to the developed countries of the world) dictatorship, they got a big army that will fight to the death, should it come to that, missiles, and likely some atomic bombs. Why are we laughing at them? Well it's natural, really, we always make fun of a threat, the civilians in that country isn't the only ones affected by propaganda. We made fun of the Nazis once upon a time as well, it's human nature, it's easier to handle conflict if we make fun of it, it's all fun and games if we're not the ones dying, eh?
Personally, I wish people wouldn't be so nonchalant about the matter. What you are doing is that you're making fun of a rabid dog behind a fence, sure it is behind a fence but don't be surprised when he jumps over said fence and bite. Make no mistake, this dog is being backed into a corner, and somehow it's not helping that it has access to nuclear weapons (probably). I'm just saying, they are setting shit up, and they have encouraged foreign diplomats of evacuating South Korea (if I'm not completely wrong).
I don't know why people find this so funny, North Korea is not known for being a funny place. Ignorance is dangerous, and the people of that country has been fed nothing but ignorance for such a long time. They might be treated badly by their government, they may live under constant threat of being killed or taken away by the government, but they're still told and believe that everyone else is still worse, particularly South Korea and the US is the devil to them. They have no reason not to fight if they believe that we are attacking them.
Look, I'm not saying that we all need to be afraid either, living in constant fear of nuclear war is not the thing to do either. All I'm saying is that we should not take North Korea as a big joke, they have waged war before and technically it never ended, we got no reason to think they won't do anything if they're pushed far enough. Consider that their hate for most of the world is very fanatical, like the extremist terrorists of the middle easy, except this is an actual nation armed to the teeth and full of people willing to die for their country. If shit hits the fan, I'm pretty sure it won't be a laughing matter, so I suggest you don't take this so lightly, don't be afraid, but don't assume a nation being ruled by nutjobs won't do something crazy.
This blog has deviated from my usual subjects, being games, but I thought I should say something about this particular subject nonetheless. On a happier note my giveaway for codes granting you a free copy of Bioshock on PSN is still going on until this Friday 12.04.2013.
I would agree with you, if the poor and starving people of North Korea were the butt of the jokes. They aren't though and the example you use to compare it too isn't fitting at all. I mean you even recognize it's "WW2 propaganda against Japanese". In modern times propaganda has always been disseminated by governments to aid there cause and your example specifically wasn't meant to make fun of the Japanese. Its only purpose was to brand the Japanese as an entire murderous, sub-human culture. Those were common American fear tactics aimed at the populace to get them to finance a massive war not only with money, but also their blood.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator would be a far more fitting comparison. And who says that people who make fun of Kim Jung Un aren't taking the situation serious? If you really think that jokes and parodies of Kim Jung Un are going to be the straw that will break the camel's back, pushing North Korea and it's people to war you are simply mistaken.
Also you are dead wrong if you think that the majority of North Koreans are as indoctrinated as you make them out to be. Even if they were, the majority is so dirt poor, starved and malnourished they wouldn't stand a chance fighting. In that regard I really share your opinion and condemn those on the internet who's call to war totally ignores the fact that those people will be either pulled through the meat grinder of an AH64 or simply starve to death once the last food aid stops.
North Korea isn't a rabid dog and it isn't pushed into a corner. North Korea backs itself into a corner, because Kim Jong Un is losing control, due to hunger and massive trade restrictions. And worrying about North Korea as a nuclear threat for the US is just not feasible. You can't just fling a nuke 3000 miles across the pacific. It takes a sophisticated delivery mechanism and the last time I checked North Korea didn't have a Metal Gear program that could replace their shitty Taepodong-2 rockets, which by the way aren't even ICBMs.
If I were you I wouldn't worry about North Korea and nuclear weapons. I would start worrying about China and their defense pact with North Korea. If diplomacy fails and China would enter a war between North and South Korea, the global financial meltdown would be far worse in the US than anything a North Korean nuclear weapon could deliver to the US.
I did just watch a North Korean propaganda video, yeah... Those guys are dangerous, not only in battle but also in their mentality. Have you seen any of that stuff? That conviction in their eyes, I wouldn't imagine even the Japanese soldiers were like that in WW2, and those guys had Kamikaze pilots.
DeleteWhile I didn't mean to compare the WW2 propaganda to an internet meme per say, I just wanted to point out that it works the same way. As you said, the WW2 propaganda was made to belittle them, just like the internet jokes works to belittle Kim Jong Un and his government. And of course I understand that the internet jokes won't be what pushes them over the line, I see that it may be unclear but I was talking in a pretty general way, meaning they're being pushed by the world in different ways.
DeleteWell I suppose you might be right on the other things you say, although they're very isolated so it's hard to know for sure what it's like over there. However, I think it's gone too far, I don't know if they'll just "calm down" again at this point. In fact, I hope something happen, either the government being overthrown (unlikely due to some indoctrination and starvation?) or that they actually attempt to attack forcing the world to step in and give the people a chance of better lives.
I don't really worry about it though, I was just thinking that people shouldn't take them so lightly. Also I don't live in the US but I'm more worried that if a Nuke goes off anywhere, it'll be bad for the entire planet. That shit is dangerous, as any Metal Gear player will know.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete