He is a Social Democratic that can see some flaws in capitalism, but doesn’t want revolution, and does not like any AES. I emailed him a article from Rainer Shea about how the dprk isn’t as bad as we are told and that they have some similarities to the US. He emailed me back that it was propaganda, and that there is little freedom there and many human rights abuses (citing Wikipedia, citing amnesty international, and human rights watch) I would like to show him some of the successes of the dprk, and/or disprove the human rights abuse claims. Any sources I could cite would be helpful.
My advice to you would be to just leave your grandpa alone. I understand you want to be understood by those dear to you, but you’re not going to undo more than half a century of indoctrination. There is a saying in Korean; once an elder has passed 88 years of age, there is no correcting them.
Your grandfather has lived a completely different experience compared to you. Getting them to understand that “housing/education is unaffordable to the youth” is enough of a challenge, let alone telling them the DPRK is the polar opposite of what you hear about it on the news.
This is correct. Old people are often stubborn, and reactionaries are always stubborn by their nature. This is an uphill battle, which could cost you relationship with your grandfather. It’s not worth it. Choose your battles.
I think there is still some hope, he’s not that old, and I have convinced him the us is fighting a proxy war against Russia for one thing.
I think there is still some hope
That the US is fighting a proxy war in Russia is already the main talking point of conservative media, so I personally wouldn’t see as positive as you.
You’re probably putting too much value in having your grandpa be in the same ideological camp. Just enjoy the time you have with your grandfather and don’t waste it on political escapades. Convincing him isn’t going to help your cause.
Anyway, good luck with whatever you decide to do.
He’s very liberal, bought Obama’s books, protested Iraq etc. anti-communism is just rather ingrained
This is a tough one - there is just so much misinformation, Westerners are so brainwashed when it comes to the DPRK. I think it is literally the most heavily lied about topic in Western discourse. It’s really hard to undo that brainwashing, I mean it’s so ingrained in them that when you try to tell them the truth about the DPRK they will react as if you just tried to argue that the Earth is flat. No article or video will work, he will always just say that it’s propaganda and probably not even read/watch. Instead, I think the best approach here is to try and educate him about the history of Korea overall - always using very mainstream and trustworthy sources if he questions anything you say. Pulling up the full history exposes the glaring inconsistencies in the mainstream perception of the nation, and that usually gets the cogs turning in people’s brains, making them more open to questioning the propaganda they’ve been fed for so long. Otherwise, it’s really hard to even have a nuanced discussion with them if they don’t know the full history.
I’m confused about one thing tho - you say he doesn’t support any AES states. So then, why start off by trying to tell him the truth about the most controversial one? That’s going to be really hard if he thinks that socialist countries in general were always just impoverished, totalitarian hellholes. Why not redpill him on the USSR first? It would be a lot easier…
Cuba or Vietnam would be even easier to start with. Then go on to China. USSR is optional, it no longer exists so there is limited benefit to be gained from expending a lot of effort convincing people that they have been lied to about it, at least until they are becoming serious communists and are ready to start reading history and theory… It is more difficult to overturn commonly accepted historical narratives about the past since nobody can go there and actually observe and report from the ground.
I would say we should focus on first highlighting the achievements of socialist systems that still exist today.
I didn’t “start off” with North Korea, I have tried convincing him of the good things Stalin did, and I think I have convinced him of the good Mao did for China. Thanks for the advice.
If he can get behind Mao, there might be some hope. Although, as several other comments said, the DPRK is probably the toughest one, at least if you live in the West
Have him watch the haircut
Honestly this one is my favorite. I share it with everyone I know, and also the famous “Loyal citizens of Pyongyang” but only after people accept that there is somwthing wrong with how we percieve DPRK
I haven’t watched “Loyal Citizens of Pyongyang”. Thanks for mentioning it. I’ll download it. It’ll give me something to watch.
It is pathologic the way many people can perceive the DPRK as hyperbolically evil. Or how such a tiny nation could be so threatening to them.
hakim’s video?
I thought about it, but he’s too liberal. Anti-gun, self-titled lib, etc. I may be thinking of the wrong thing, if so plz link it.
Pretty sure you’re thinking about Hasan, either ways here it is
Thanks
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…He is an old man. He aint gonna see the light and pick up a rifle for the sake of the DPRK.
