North Korea/Spain/Rebels

[quevivafidel]

Hello, I am a 15-year-old Argentine-born American with a historian father and I am very interested in all history, especially socialism and communism. I have a few unrelated questions.

I am very ill-informed about North Korea...I know that it is considered "communist" but know very little about it beyond that. Is it only communist in name? Any information would be appreciated.

Also, I know that the Socialist Party is in power in Spain. I'm wary of the term "socialist" though because it can mean many different things (anti-communism fanatic Hitler was a member of a socialist party in Germany, etc) and was wondering what their particular party is like and if it is truly "socialist."

Also, I was wondering where the most revolutionary groups are currently active. Latin America, Africa, and Asia, I know, where very active in revolutionary groups in the past (our policies within Latin America have been sickening, by the way--between Allende and the Iran-Contra affair) but I don't know of much nowadays beyond Hugo Chavez, Maoists in India, and a few groups in Africa/Latin America that are active...the candidate for presidency in Kenya who lost to the incumbent president seemed quite interesting. (He named his son after Fidel.) Does anybody have any current info on 21st century revolutionary organizations?

Thanks!

[#FF0000]

I don't think many people here are all that supportive of North Korea. The last time I saw a discussion about North Korea, it turned into a huge debate. Still, I think it's safe to say that most of the people you find here won't be huge fans of Kim Jong-Il.

Oh, and welcome to Revleft. :)

[quevivafidel]

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm not a fan, either, from the little I know of him, but I'm interested to know more about North Korea. The only kind of communism and socialism I'm for is one that helps the masses, the proletariat. Anything that's communist just in name and doesn't strive to help people is not anything that I am interested in.

[Raúl Duke]

No, he ain't communist (or, specifically, the country isn't a "communist one" because communism has no states or classes).

Supposedly it's a socialist state but allegedly they don't concentrate on Marxism (specifically Marxist-Leninism) and have a new doctrines like Juche and "millitary first" doctrine.

It's mostly communist in name to me, maybe not even...

(although to others from other kinds of forms of communist ideology might have a differing opinion)

[R_P_A_S]

Hello, I am a 15-year-old Argentine-born American with a historian father and I am very interested in all history, especially socialism and communism. I have a few unrelated questions.

I am very ill-informed about North Korea...I know that it is considered "communist" but know very little about it beyond that. Is it only communist in name? Any information would be appreciated.

Also, I know that the Socialist Party is in power in Spain. I'm wary of the term "socialist" though because it can mean many different things (anti-communism fanatic Hitler was a member of a socialist party in Germany, etc) and was wondering what their particular party is like and if it is truly "socialist."

Also, I was wondering where the most revolutionary groups are currently active. Latin America, Africa, and Asia, I know, where very active in revolutionary groups in the past (our policies within Latin America have been sickening, by the way--between Allende and the Iran-Contra affair) but I don't know of much nowadays beyond Hugo Chavez, Maoists in India, and a few groups in Africa/Latin America that are active...the candidate for presidency in Kenya who lost to the incumbent president seemed quite interesting. (He named his son after Fidel.) Does anybody have any current info on 21st century revolutionary organizations?

Thanks!

First and for most, Bienvenido Compañero! and second I can't stress enough how excited it makes me feel that young people are so interested in politcs and keen on learning more and more. thats great! I wish I had your interest and revolutionary spirit 10 years ago. anyways.. here's a thread about North Korea that exploded into a good debate! led by "CompañeroDeLibertad" as he counter every single poorly research and accusation made by "Chmx"....

THE LINK: read on it gets GOOD!
http://www.revleft.com/vb/liberty-north-korea-t63904/index.html?t=63904

[quevivafidel]

Thanks for the comments! Y gracias, R P A S!

I'm going to have to research the issue of North Korea very closely and objectively. I'm reading the link right now.

[R_P_A_S]

Thanks for the comments! Y gracias, R P A S!

I'm going to have to research the issue of North Korea very closely and objectively. I'm reading the link right now.

yeah i basically was asked to join some 'Liberty in North Korea' project that I found weird and was extremely skeptical about. and indeed my skepticism paid off. as it purely is libertarian trash.

[Intelligitimate]

I'd recommend reading Bruce Cumings' North Korea: Another Country. Cumings is an expert in the area, and does the fairest treatment you'll see from a mainstream scholar on North Korea. There is also the work of the Marxist Asian scholar Martin Hart-Landsberg, Korea : Division, Reunification and U.S. Foreign Policy. It's not quite as good as Cumings, but it pretty useful for understanding Korea prior to the war, and the nature of the right-wing South Korean regime. He is not as sympathetic to the North as Cumings, but it still fairer than most.

Here are some useful links:

http://www.nlg.org/korea/

The National Lawyers Guild is very sympathetic to NK, and they have many good articles about NK.

http://mltoday.com/Pages/Commentary/Gowans-UnderstandNKorea.html

Another good article on NK.

http://www.lclark.edu/~marty/politicaleconomyKorea.htm (http://www.lclark.edu/%7Emarty/politicaleconomyKorea.htm)

Website of Martin Hart-Landsberg on NK.

http://www.kimsoft.com/korea.htm

Interesting website, run by an anti-communist SK who went to the US to study nuclear physics, but is pretty even sided in the articles found. For instance, this is a pretty good article on the defector trade:

http://www.kimsoft.com/2004/NK-DefectorTrade.htm

There is also the Korean Friendship Association. I don't know how much useful information you'll find here, but these people are the most pro-NK people found on the net. It is run by someone from Spain, and you can even go visit NK through this organization, for a very low price (only if you're pro-NK to begin with).

http://www.korea-dpr.com/

There is also the DPRK's news site. If you think there is nothing but propaganda here, the respected historian Cumings has openly said the views put out by NK on US-Korean relations are actually much closer to reality than found in the mainstream media.

http://www.kcna.co.jp/index-e.htm

And on a last note, I strongly urge you get a proper understanding of the mainstream media. Find and download Herman and Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, and keep this in mind at all times when you hear anything the mainstream media says about NK. It can be found on the old Chomsky Torrents site, which recently switched URLs.

I hope this helps. It is easy to take the coward's way out, like most people do here, and just go along with the bourgeoisie on NK. Or you can dare to actually take a radical, materialist analysis of NK and the claims of the mainstream media.