Teacher
21st July 2013, 16:16
I think I saw this guy in a documentary about North Korea one time.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/07/20/195590639/the-spanish-aristocrat-who-works-for-north-korea
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/07/11/spain-north-korea-721e4ee1b34225268538ac5323acdeccafe6dc1e-s40.jpg
Cao de Benos speaks passionately about what draws him to Pyongyang year after year. He has an apartment there, where he sometimes even celebrates Christmas.
"Society and life is completely different. In North Korea, there is no stock market, there is no gambling, there is no prostitution, and there are no drugs. Everybody leads a humble life, but with dignity," he said. "You see the big difference? I was working in Palo Alto, Calif. — and what I witnessed was yes, there are some beautiful houses and people with great cars, but there are a few people taking control over the properties and the companies, and they are the ones getting richer while the majority of the people — the workers — are getting poorer."
Acknowledging The Hardships
He also acknowledges seeing a darker side of the isolated Communist country.
"I've been in Pyongyang without electricity 24 hours [a day] — without water," Cao de Benos recalls. "I've been going with my comrades to pick up buckets of water that we will share among six or seven people — and I have seen the situation. I have seen the starvation."
But he blames that on natural disasters and most of all, Western sanctions. He says he believes that North Korean communism — if left alone — would do justice for a greater number of people than capitalism.
"Of course, it's a project. We are not living in a paradise in North Korea, but we want to create such a social paradise. That's our goal," he said. "On the way, we will have mistakes and we will correct them, and get better day by day."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2013/07/20/195590639/the-spanish-aristocrat-who-works-for-north-korea
http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/07/11/spain-north-korea-721e4ee1b34225268538ac5323acdeccafe6dc1e-s40.jpg
Cao de Benos speaks passionately about what draws him to Pyongyang year after year. He has an apartment there, where he sometimes even celebrates Christmas.
"Society and life is completely different. In North Korea, there is no stock market, there is no gambling, there is no prostitution, and there are no drugs. Everybody leads a humble life, but with dignity," he said. "You see the big difference? I was working in Palo Alto, Calif. — and what I witnessed was yes, there are some beautiful houses and people with great cars, but there are a few people taking control over the properties and the companies, and they are the ones getting richer while the majority of the people — the workers — are getting poorer."
Acknowledging The Hardships
He also acknowledges seeing a darker side of the isolated Communist country.
"I've been in Pyongyang without electricity 24 hours [a day] — without water," Cao de Benos recalls. "I've been going with my comrades to pick up buckets of water that we will share among six or seven people — and I have seen the situation. I have seen the starvation."
But he blames that on natural disasters and most of all, Western sanctions. He says he believes that North Korean communism — if left alone — would do justice for a greater number of people than capitalism.
"Of course, it's a project. We are not living in a paradise in North Korea, but we want to create such a social paradise. That's our goal," he said. "On the way, we will have mistakes and we will correct them, and get better day by day."