And although unfettered capitalism can lead to people accumulating wealth at the expense of others (e.g. the CEO's of various corporations in the US and their golden parachutes), that is not what capitalism is about. Capitalism is about encouraging entrepreneurship so that: (i) the entrepreneur gets a return on his investment, and (ii) the worker is paid a suitable wage for his labour. In North Korea, Kim Jong-il is getting everything and the workers are getting nothing. This isn't capitalism.

I am not criticizing North Korean culture (which is probably centuries old). I am critical of Stalinism in North Korea (which is less than a hundred years old). Stalinism - a 20th century ideology - should not be equated with ancient North Korean culture. So I am not judging North Korea by liberal Western standards. I am judging it by the standards that it has set for itself.

It claims to follow Marxism, does it not? But according to Marxist-Leninist thought, human progress is an important goal. Now, different people would have different ideas as to what constitutes progress, and they would come up with different ways of achieving progress. But progress has always been a goal of Marxist-Leninism. And although Stalinism is quite different from Marxist-Leninism, human progress has also been one of its goals.

Even Maoism has had progress as its goal. So if all 3 ideologies attach importance to the progress of human civilization, then it would seem to an outside observer (like myself) that North Korea is not abiding by its own ideology. If a government is going to claim to be Marxist/Leninist/Trotskyist /Maoist, for goodness sake it should at least try to stay true to its principles.

Is North Korea progressing in any way, shape, or form? The Soviets defined progress as scientific and technological advancement. So even though they did things that hindered their country's progress (such as killing millions of intellectuals), progress was still their goal. And they were able to achieve it. Mao Zedong was interested in progress as well. So even though millions died in his Cultural Revolution, China was still able to progress.

We judge progress not just by the methods involved, but also by the results. Castro has undertaken many policies that have hindered Cuba's progress. But look at the results. Cuba has been able to create a good education system and a good health care system. I'm not sure what to say about the Khmer Rouge because we did not get to see the long-term results of their policies in Cambodia. But Pol Pot, like Mao, was anti-intellectual. They both imprisoned and/or killed scholars... as did Kim Il-sung and his son, Kim Jong-il. But Mao, Stalin, and Castro were still able to achieve progress in spite of their anti-progress actions.

But North Korea has not been able to achieve progress. I am not criticizing North Korean culture, nor am I criticizing Marxist-Leninism. I am not assessing North Korean progress within a Western liberal framework. I am assessing North Korean progress within its own Communist framework. We in the West would define progress as economic progress, social progress, technological accomplishments. But that bar is set too high, and so we cannot judge North Korea according to the Western criteria. I'm just saying that North Korea has little to be proud of, regardless of what criteria we judge it by.