Lenin, Friedman and starvation

After denomination of the currency in North Korea prices went high and people started facing hunger again. It took the North Korean government 2 months to react on the issue and in the late January Kim Jong Il held a special summit related to starvation crisis.

Since that time the central government sends 5 kg of rice daily to each People's Unit and from 5 to 15kg to enterprises and businesses (if one can call them such).
That caused the relief to citizens and no new cases of starvation have been reported so far.

Officials in local authorities are said to be punished if they do not supervise the aid properly and react to the circumstances.

All of that is a surprising reaction of the government which rules ruthlessly the communist state and where citizens have no rights whatsoever.

It is possible that this time if they do not react, people of North Korea will finally revolt against the regime.

The optimal social system for people to live in has been always a subject of dispute. Obviously democracy is the God's favorite, but economic conditions are the topic on the table.

More or less 130 years ago in Great Britain two social activists have invented basics of socialism which were later applied into bloody action by Lenin himself.

If we think about contemporary China or North Korea, that all was invented in Europe as a response to abusive capitalism with no welfare and social care.

On the surface communism is not bad at all. It assumes fair share of all goods between everyone involved in the system. But what is more in human nature is competition and comparison to others. Most of times we are happy to have more than others and it is just this way in our genes. To impose ideas which are against human nature one needs strong power and system of control, that is what happens in communism.

On the other hand some time ago in USA a guy named Milton Friedman invented the idea that the market regulates itself and that all players behavior is rational and aims for the best. That is not quite true and everyone knows as much.

But such a conflict remains. Conflict between a system of chances and responsibility and system of shortages and regulated life. People prefer to have, to possess and to be happy. This is in their basic needs.

Communism itself led always to the economy of shortages. And it was exactly that which made regimes collapsed provided that they were not aided externally.

Last thought which comes to my mind is that socialism in democratic states made enourmous career and settled down in the social and economic system, placed itself forever in Germany, France or Scandinavia. State protection system which is imposed by force will sooner or later collapse. Better sooner than later.