During an unrelated discussion about something or the other (sports or something), I brought up a list of Asian countries, and instinctively accidentally said “DPRK” instead of “North Korea” during an actual conversation irl with a liberal that I often talk to. And after a little bit he produced the quote in the title. Referencing Voltaire’s “Not Roman, not holy nor an empire” quip.
In this context our liberal here was clearly taking a jab at the DPRK and how it supposedly doesn’t live up to it’s name.
At the time it annoyed me but I said nothing of it and laughed it off and got back on topic.
But thinking back I’m wondering if it could have been an opportunity to perhaps break some of the conditioning and maybe have him reflect on his preconceived notions. What would have been the best way to actually explain how the name is actually rather fitting, without risking triggering a liberal brain malfunction that defaults to spouting propaganda?
Ask them “which occupation zone was the first to hold an election after WWII ended?”
Ask the “which occupation zone has been a military dictatorship for most of its existence?”
Ask them “what percentage of the South Korean government spending was directly paid for by the US during the post war years?” And “can any country whose budget is almost completely dependent on another nation really call itself democratic?”
Homework for you: [Learn about People’s Committees](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/People’s_Committee_(postwar_Korea)#:~:text=The People’s Committees (Korean%3A 인민,August 1945 to early 1946.) this article is from Wikipedia, even your most liberal friend will respect it. The main source this article draws information from is dogshit, but the main points are important to know.
Listen to Blowback Season 3 Episode 3 “The Blue House”. You can hear about the first democratic experience of people in the North compared to South
to quote Stalin: every historical parallel is perilous, this one is asinine
I would ask what territories they control outside of their own borders. They have been barred from much of the international trade community and don’t have a powerful position or influence on the UN or the Security Commissions. The UN even mandated that DPRK citizens cannot leave the DPRK, not much of an Empire if you ask me
The Problem starts with Voltaires quote, he made it in reference to the state of the HRE close to its end. For much of its existence it fulfilled all criteria that made up its name. As many people have no concept of time and the changes that happen during it, they think the quote refers to the entire millenium of the HRE existing. We can see the same with the people who always yell “state capitalism” because Lenin called it that at the time, ignoring that Stalin later attested the transitioning to socialism a few years later.
The Problem continues with the fact that liberals can not imagine a democracy different from a bourgoise one. So when confronted with a proletarian democracy like the DPRK, they short circuit. Furthermore, libs are raised to be chauvinistic as fuck. They expect everything to be culturally homogenous like in the anglo empire. So they short circuit when confronted with a culture that is strongly influenced by confucianism and cry “monarchy!!!1”
yes because the roman empires economic system and society is the exact same as the dprks /s
