I just watched a really fascinating documentary on North Korea. With the whole hullabaloo (ohhh I love that word) with the Seth Rogen and James Franco stoner-comedy The Interview it's seemed pretty essential as of late to really understand what is happening in that country. Having been the butt of jokes in America for ages, it's easy to believe that the country itself is not a threat. However, I (and I'm sure many other people) had heard and read stories that seemed too cruel to be true: tales of a mass execution in a stadium- the offense being watching American movies (despite the vast film collection of the country's supreme leader), stories from escaped guards of the brutal work camps, and the stories of expatriates who miraculously survived the hardship of escaping the country. It seems surreal to think that in a world where everybody is so so connected and involved with one another, one lone, small nation is telling the rest of the world where they can stick their globalization efforts while simultaneously destroying all of its citizens through boundless cruelty. The worst part is, no nation has truly stepped up to say "Hey, this is wrong." Part of that comes from the nuclear power that small nation possesses, but nonetheless it is still shocking that hardly effort has been taken to help those brainwashed, dying people. With America's tendency to take on wars in order to "preserve and promote democracy," why aren't we putting effort into doing that where it's needed most?
I guess the blatantly obvious answer to that question is that North Korea has nothing to offer us in return (coughcoughMIDDLEEASTERNOILcough). It's kinda shameful.
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