this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2025
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I mean, if you make a line where dictatorship is on the far left and democracy is on the far right, then yeah, NK is "far left". But on a more real note, there's very little difference between the Kim dynasty and absolutist monarchies, or the dictatorships of Francisco Franco (Spain) and Antonio Salazar (Portugal), I doubt any of those were ever considered "political left" in any manner.
North Korea is a totalitarian dictatorship, but it is also left wing.
It has public ownership, it is anti capitalist. Production and the entire economy is centrally controlled and it was founded as a Marxist state with the backing of the soviet union.
You are among the many here who are confusing authoritarianism/liberalism with left/right ideologies. Funny how you mentioned Spain and Portugal but avoided Italy.
Economy and politics are intrinsically tied to one another, no matter how much some economy masters try to say otherwise. Regulations, tariffs and taxes happen because of political pressure and they all have a very direct and measurable effect on the economy. Democracies may not directly control economies like dictatorships can, but they can and do heavily influence it to work one way or another, via tax or tax breaks, easier or harder credit, etc. Culture also plays an important role, even if the majority of economy academics downplay or ignore it, just like they downplay or ignore the importance of nature, but that's a different discussion.
Alright, can you tell me what are some of the marxist teachings that NK applies to how it runs the state and the economy? Because "being founded as" and "actually run as" are not the same. I mean, it's official name is "Democratic People's Republic of Korea". It's obviously not democratic and barely qualifies as a republic
I'm not. Left wing ideology usually leans towards "the govt and economy should work for the good of the people". Communism, which is as "far left" as it typically goes, assumes that the people collectively own all the means of production and government becomes unnecessary. Which leads to the next point
NK doesn't have "public" ownership, as in, the people cannot say that they collectively own anything, and literally have no say in how anything works, everything belongs to and is run according to the will of the state (or, more accurately, the current leader). Like I said before, not different from an absolutist monarchy. Unless you can argue that the majority of Kim's policies are all for the good of the NK people, he cannot be considered "left".
What, you gonna tell me that Mussolini was a far left politician?
Proof by contradiction. NK doesn't have private ownership of companies therefore anything that exists is "public". Definitely not right wing capitalism.
Yes. Mussolini initially had socialist roots. Only later did he move in the authoritarian axis towards nationalism and fascism.
I love how this reply of yours is just a bunch of bad faith arguments, especially the first part that neatly ignores the fact that the state owns everything in NK, not unlike how a company owns and runs its property. I fully expect you to say that nazi germany was left wing because "national SOCIALISM!!!!!!!!!!!"
There's no bad faith. I'm giving historical and contemporary examples of left wing authoritarian worship.
There hasn't even been an argument put forward to back the claim that this is impossible.
You mean ENFORCED "worship"
That IS NOT what is happening with Trump today and you know it. You are absolutely arguing in bad faith.
Yes, partially enforced, partially natural. Similarly with Trump. He's doing his best to enforce it.
Historically authoritarianism has grown from the left wing (but it usually comes from the right). Recognising this helps guard against it happening again.
So now you're gonna be one of those that pretends Italian fascists and German Nazis were "liberals"?
No. I refer you to my previous comment.