Seeing things in a new light

Posted by Josh Rosenau on March 18, 2010
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I don’t care for North Korea. It’s a repressive Stalinist cult, walled off from reality. But sometimes they find a nut:

A government official in North Korea blamed for the nation’s currency devaluation has been executed by the state. “Pak Nam-gi, who was reportedly sacked in January as chief of the planning and finance department of the ruling Workers’ Party, was executed at a shooting range in Pyongyang.”

Maybe if we stood a few of the banksters in front of a firing squad, we wouldn’t have to fix their mess again.

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Comments

  1. #1 Physicalist
    March 18, 2010

    Hmm. I’m pretty sure that Kirshenbaum, Mooney, and the Intersection crew won’t approve of your advocating violence like this . . .

  2. #2 NoAstronomer
    March 18, 2010

    “Maybe if we stood a few of the banksters in front of a firing squad, we wouldn’t have to fix their mess again.”

    True – we would have to fix someone else’s mess. Which is why we (what most people refer to as the civilized world) don’t bother shooting people for screwing up – it doesn’t help.

    Plus, of course, poor Pak Nam-gi probably wasn’t the only guy who screwed up – he is was just the guy with the fewest political connections.

    Since everyone in NK knows the real reason Pak specifically was shot, everyone is now (more) focused on making sure they have the proper connections rather than on getting the job done right. Which is another reason why we (what most people refer to as the civilized world) don’t bother shooting people for screwing up – it’s a distraction.

  3. #3 Marion Delgado
    March 19, 2010

    North Korea is pretty much a racist military state:

    http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/02/22/north_koreas_race_problem?hidecomments=yes

    Military states aren’t capitalist per se, nor are they socialist or communist. On the one hand, the army way is kind of war-socialism-looking. On the other hand, militarism (domestic or foreign) is one of the two legitimate functions of government for the libertarian capitalist, and market fundamentalists won’t limit tax spending on it, nor do they demonize cops and troops as they demonize everyone else working for gummint.”

    DRK is like China – it kills people as scapegoats. A banker with close ties to the Kim family and the government would not be shot – you “make an example” of someone and instead of it changing behavior, it says, be better-connected next time, and quit while you’re ahead, and don’t be unlucky enough to be scapegoatable when we’re going to admit to 1% of our economic problems.

    The above link is not just one author in Foreign Policy’s opinion. It’s shared by a lot of f.p. analysts now.

  4. #4 Marion Delgado
    March 19, 2010

    But in fairness, the bankers in the G20 didn’t just screw up, many of them, especially in the US, are simply criminals who are too powerful to have the law touch them – either laws are rewritten for their benefit or the enforcement of laws is de-funded and shut down. So it’s possible Josh’s quip has a tinge of truth to it.

    It’s not a “mistake” when you’re simply ripping people off.

  5. #5 capsiplex
    March 19, 2010

    Plus, of course, poor Pak Nam-gi probably wasn’t the only guy who screwed up – he is was just the guy with the fewest political connections.