The Vietnam War. On PBS by Ken Burns?

I also would guess that most of the population has less information about him that we do.

 

I would also bet that most of the population doesn't know that there is a different way of life.

 

That would be part of the missing information.

 

Remember that the general public has no resources - heck no food for all practical purposes. Everything is controlled by the party and the military. Senior officers are conditioned to understand that their entire power base - which means all of their resources - are tied to this leader. Eliminating him also in their mind takes away everything they have. The cultural conditioning that exists there has been going on for a very very long time. Unless you spend time in places like mainland China (never been any closer to NK than the DMZ myself, but have spent a bunch of time in China - not just HK) it's hard to describe the way of life of the average North Korean. The people might be rational - but their logic and rational behavior is still based on what they know. They don't have the slightest idea of what life elsewhere is like - it's so alien to them that it's pretty much beyond their imagination for a whole lot of the country.

 

This, BTW, is a lesson for others. The more "resources" you give to the central (read Federal) government, the more you start to create the same issues elsewhere. Will the US ever become NK? No. But will the ever increasing trend of putting more "distribution of resources" risk the "central government" having so much power in terms of resources that it can't be controlled, and effectively becomes a "one party government"? Yes. This is definitely a lesson that other countries - even those very different from NK or VN - could take to heart. Problem is that there are too many people already getting "stuff". It's like crack. Get 'em hooked - you own them.

 

I might add that in their society, they can't trust anyone.
All allegiance is to the state and dear leader, and people are rewarded for turning in traitors.
Tough to get any resistance going in that atmosphere.

 

You also have to add in what I've read elsewhere that says ~75% of the current NK generation was/is so malnourished as to have permanent brain impairment. Many of these folks are damaged goods...

 

So where does that leave us? Do we have no choice but to wipe them out? We can't just let things continue on as they have, eventually this lunatic will push the button. Either that or he will so intimidate the SK or even Japan that they will bend to his will. I'm beginning to think we should down all of his missiles and destroy his nuclear infrastructure (much harder) even if that's an act of war. Let them decide if they want to go to the next level. Be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. Crazy, right? This idea sucks beyond imagination. I'd get the hell out of Seoul right about now.

 

In a New York minute.

 

I watched the first episode. It's very interesting.

I knew bits and pieces of the situation - French control, Ho Chi Minh being the head of group seeking a free Vietnam, and the French/American funded thugs in the south. But, I didn't know that Minh had traveled, lived in the US and Europe, nor did I know that he had US support at one point. I also knew about the dynamics of Russia and China seeking to spread Communism vs. the US seeking to limit its influence. But, I never knew about (what seemed like) a chess match, culminating in the US backing the French, because not doing so meant supporting Communism while at the same time alienating a western ally. Basically, doing the wrong thing because you weren't given a better move. That was probably the most enlightening thing to me.

Also, I never knew Saigon looked like a western European city. I thought it basically grew into what we saw in moves like Full Metal Jacket. The old video from the 40's and 50's - it looked like a very clean and appealing city, even though the people were basically French slaves.

 

The beautiful white-sand beaches on the South China Sea side of Cam Ranh peninsula were a popular vacation spot for the French during their occupation of Vietnam.

 

I wonder if their new influx of fun loving immigrants will enjoy the French resorts as much.

 

Remembering from some reading about NK coming from a few people that were successful in escaping NK that's available one of the successors of Kim Un is a sister that's even more cruel than Kim. That's of course if he gets his ass shot off instead of the whole country isn't attacked. According to some of these escapees there are some portions of the citizenry of NK that have access to outside news and there are signs of unrest with Kim's style of governing.

A couple of days ago I also read a couple of reports about some of NK's leaders quietly approaching a couple of conservative members of the US for advice on how to deal with Trump. Kim and his gang have yet to understand that even we cannot figure him out either. Hopefully Kim is getting ready to try to talk his way back to a more sane way to end this schoolyard fight.

 

We argue back and forth about how divided we are today here in the US and, unless you were there, it's easy to forget the history of the sixties. There were some serious divisions within society back then that was as bad as today. The shame of it all is that we've made little, if any, progress in understanding our fellow man since then. We have the same situations facing us today as was present back then. A prolonged war and racial strife still prevail. Will we ever learn?

 

That may actually be true. Over the past 70 years, since Communist NK was formed, the lack of nourishment has caused an evolution that has resulted in the N. Koreans being about 2 to 4 inches shorter that S. Koreans. It stands to reason that brain development has also been restrained. Sad.

 

It's taken a few weeks but I finally finished watching the documentary on the Vietnam war. I found no problems, or visible bias in it and was just fine until the last episode. When it covered the Vietnam Memorial Wall I lost it. Again. A few years ago I visited a small replica of it at the Vietnam Memorial in Mineral Wells Texas and was glad I was alone when I went there. I actually sat on the ground and wept. Today I did so again. I don't understand why I fall into such a state of emotion but, for whatever reason, I do. So much of a waste of lives on both sides and no value in all those years of killing. Maybe that's my emotional problem. I don't know.

 

I can't imagine. I was born in 66 so the Vietnam War is somewhat of a foggy memory and has been reduced to what I have read and watched on TV. But I will tell you, when I visited the memorial in DC I cried like crazy.

 

I visited the memorial in DC a couple weeks back. It is thought provoking. I also visited the US Marine memorial near Camp Lejeune and it is just as powerfull. It has the names in alphebet order in a glass wall surrounding a pool. The Beirut memorial at Camp Lejeune is heartbreaking.

As for the PBS series, I only watched one and saw a bias, La Drang valley... they failed to mention that the replacements were ambushed when forced to march back to LZ Albany from LZ X-ray after the battle. Stupid decision.