since there was all those fuss about North Korea recently, i asked my dad how N. Korea was governed. it was apparently governed by socialism, and the definition of socialism by Wikipedia is:"any one of various theories of economic organization advocating state or cooperative ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and a society characterized by equal opportunities/means for all individuals with a more egalitarian method of compensation based on the full product of the laborer." which basically means, that everything belongs to the state and actually, you don't own your money, and therefore your share of pay is determined by the government. that's the way things are in N. Korea. so, according to my dad, they can't achieve self sufficiency because they don't trade much and have to get help from China.
one article from fff.org says "For the last three years, up to 2 million people have died of starvation in North Korea. The U.S. government has been the biggest provider of aid, contributing 220,000 tons of food. The Clinton administration is now considering sending an additional 300,000 tons of food. American officials refer to this assistance as "humanitarian." But is it really? Unlike a private business, the U.S. government does not generate its own wealth. Instead, it taxes wealth. And, as everyone knows, the income-tax process is not a voluntary one. If an American refuses to pay his taxes, he is met with threats of IRS levies, liens, fines, and even imprisonment. Once the IRS takes our money, other government officials decide what to do with it. Am I a humanitarian when they decide to send food to North Korea? It's hard to see how I am. If it had been up to me, I would have kept my income-tax money and used it for some other purpose. I certainly don't feel more saintly just because my government has sent food relief to North Korea. What about the government officials who send the money? Are they humanitarians? It's hard to see how they are. They have simply been good with tax money that has been forcibly taken from others. How can that transform a person into a saint? If I meet you on the street and rob you of your hard-earned money, we'd both agree that I'm a thief. But wait a minute - what if I send your money to North Korea before the police arrest me? Doesn't that now make you a humanitarian? Doesn't that make me one too? Shouldn't both of us be rewarded for our act of kindness and charity? We're told that North Koreans are starving because there have been three years of drought and flooding. Isn't it interesting that drought and flooding cause massive starvation only in socialist countries? The real reason that people are starving to death in North Korea is that socialism doesn't work. It produces economic chaos, misery, and starvation. Central planning, especially in North Korea, has proven to be one big economic bust. And, of course, it would be difficult to find a better modern-day example of socialism than North Korea. No one likes to see starving people, but doesn't U.S. government aid only reinforce North Korea's socialist system? For one thing, like all welfare programs, the assistance is likely to fall into the hands of government officials rather than those who truly need it, especially in North Korea, where the government owns everything and controls everyone, including the farms and the farmers, indeed the entire agriculture industry. Moreover, if our government continues to subsidize the North Korean government, what incentive do the North Koreans have to finally abandon the whole idea of socialism? To combat the disastrous effects of socialism overseas, our nation ends up adopting a similar socialist concept here. It takes control over a large portion of the income of the American people and plans and directs how it is to be used. To make matters worse, under the Trading with the Enemy Act, the U.S. government makes it a criminal offense for Americans to engage in private trade and commerce with North Koreans. How is that supposed to help the starving people of North Korea? How is that type of government control different in principle from that which the North Korean government exercises over its citizens? Morality and humanitarianism are ultimately matters of the individual heart. Americans should be free to keep their own money and to decide for themselves whom to help. Only when people are free to choose in that way can morality and humanitarianism mean anything at all. Moreover, all trade restrictions on the American people, including those that prohibit trade with North Korea, are violations of the freedom of the American people. They should be repealed. A nation that prides itself on capitalist principles should be fighting socialism with freedom, not socialism."
if you felt bored reading that, it means that people aren't happy and N. Korea has to get help with feeding itself from the US and now the US thinks they're not doing the right thing. oh, and the US doesn't allow any trade with N. Korea whatsoever and they felt unhumanitarian. anyway, N. Korea is in a sad state. they're too backwards to survive much longer, i think.
they also have a form of totalitarianism, such as Kim Jong Il being something like the supreme high great overlord emperor ruler of the whole of N. Korea. the good news is, he's ailing, but the bad news is, we won't need to bother about him dying as his son is reputed to be the same as him and he'll be the next supreme high great overlord emperor ruler.