Are We Worse than North Korea?

When it comes to free speech and independent thinking? I wouldn’t think so. But then, I’ve never been to North Korea. Defector Yeonmi Park, who grew up in North Korea and now attends Columbia University, says things might be worse here:

A North Korean defector said she viewed the US as country of free thought and free speech – until she went to college here.

Yeonmi Park attended Columbia University and was immediately struck by what she viewed anti-Western sentiment in the classroom and a focus on political correctness that had her thinking “even North Korea isn’t this nuts.”

I’ll put our “woke” people up against anyone when it comes to craziness.

“I realized, wow, this is insane. I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying.”

The 27-year-old told The Post that she could’t believe she would be asked to do “this much censoring of myself” at a university in the United States.

I think self-censorship is the main skill now taught in American universities. And, increasingly, in American high schools and junior high schools.

“I literally crossed the Gobi Desert to be free and I realized I’m not free, America’s not free,” she said.
***
“Going to Columbia, the first thing I learned was ‘safe space,’” she said.

“Every problem, they explained us, is because of white men.” Some of the discussions of white privilege reminded her of the caste system in her native country, where people were categorized based on their ancestors, she said.

More at the link. To be fair, Park is experiencing the worst that America has to offer. It was once said that our universities were islands of repression in a sea of freedom. These days the islands are more repressive than ever, but I am not so sure about the sea.

Freedom aside, we do have some advantages over North Korea. We have not yet gotten to the grass-eating stage. Although, considering the rate at which the price of meat is rising, we might get there sooner than we expect.

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