@nivash: Thanks for the info. I never really knew how Kaesong compared to the early changes in China and Vietnam. The more I've been reading about Kaesong the more ineffectual it seems.
Okay, I'm just going to ignore large parts of this thread and point out there was the Kaesong Industrial Region and while I would never compare it to capitalism I do think it means that there are some in DPRK who recognize that a command economy is a terrible idea. I don't know the history of China and Vietnam's move to freeing up their markets and wonder if the first steps were just as tentative.
But alas, the whole thing was shut down during the latest tensions.
There is a quote in Edward Gibbons The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire that always comes to mind when I think of the worst of the Internet:
The name of the Poet was almost forgotten; that of the Orator was usurped by the sophists. A cloud of critics, of compilers, of commentators, darkened the face of learning, and the decline of genius was soon followed by the corruption of taste.
This struck me like a hammer when I read it all those years ago and the best plan I came up with to avoid being part of the Gibbon's cloud was to stop defining myself by the things I don't like. Every path forward is full of ten bad ideas for every good one. I"m probably being generous to good ideas here but this has to be the case because it's hard to know what the way forward actually is. Finding and supporting the good ideas is far more rewarding and productive than tearing down those who went the wrong way.
Of course, finding a signal in all that noise can be a pain is the ass.
Wow. I have never been more certain of my beliefs after going through a few pages of these comments. Just remember that recognizing problems in the media you consume doesn't present you with an either/or. You can still like them. People are just asking that you think about them.
I'm in Bethlehem, PA (hour north of Philadelphia) and it's been incredibly mild here so far. Worst has been rolling south of us and the NOAA rain estimate for this afternoon has dropped considerably. They shut down work anyway and let me go home at 12:45. Been at the company ten years and they have never closed down before. Supposed to get worse tonight as the storm make landfall, but right now it seems we are getting lucky.
@Laivasse: Gonna give it a shot but I think it's too far gone since I think I think I am literally moments away from losing my eighth country. One of my mistakes was holding off on satellites.
@Shakezula84: Yeah, those are kinda rough. I like how the aliens felt the need to kick in the door when they could have just strolled in. Jerks.
@MikeGosot: No problem, I kinda walked into that one.
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