RN#8

The thesis I have gathered from the comic strip and the online testimony is that North Korea is making a point to make their citizens suffer greatly by controlling everything they do. The comic depicts the people of North Korea as zombies created by their government. The government’s leaders pretty much tell the people how to think and when to think it. It makes them seem like a weak society that allows their government to have full control. This definitely is a call for action. The online testimony speaks about how these people are suffering and getting turned back by bordering countries. Even South Korea turns these refugees back knowing they will be brutally punished. It said, that it has come to the point where they flee not caring what language the other country speaks like Spain. This is similar to stories I have read about Cuban refugees. Many Cubans try to flee their communist island by making home-made rafts risking their lives to try to reach the United States. The thing is that if the U.S. Coast Guard makes contact with them in the water then they must send them back also knowing that Fidel Castro will punish them for trying to leave his country. However, the U.S. government has said that if a Cuban refugee reaches U.S. soil then he/she is granted political asylum and can be made permanent residents. So what are Cubans, who have decided to escape from their country, doing now? They are pointing their makeshift rafts west to Mexico. Although the trip to Mexico is also very dangerous, they do not have to worry about the U.S. Coast Guard stopping them and sending them back. Once they reach Mexico all they have to do is head north to the border and state that they are Cuban refugees. The link to this story is as follows:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/world/americas/16cuba.html?scp=8&sq=cuban%20refugee&st=cse


Themes found in these stories are Communism, brain-washing, and lack of any civil rights. I would further research North Korea history to see if any trends are present. I would also research the North Korean leader’s history to see how he was brought to be the kind of person he is today.

Do you think you could be made to think a certain way too?

Would you say larger groups are easier to manipulate?

What should be done to change the situation in North Korea?