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Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by bawolff on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:15PM (#24257018)
Counterpoint: North Korea.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by actuator on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:38PM (#24257114)
I am sometimes baffled at how the leaders at NK can't have a look at just down the DMZ and see what they could have. The difference in social indicators is magnitudes better. Their ideology has been proven so wrong. I wonder what will take them to just give up.

If they are worried about punishments for what they have done, they could just cut a deal to let them have a lot of assets and be immune from judgement against past crimes.

Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by bawolff on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:41PM (#24257129)
I'm sure the leaders enjoy their position in north korea quite a lot. Better to be a king in somewhere like North Korea than to be an ordinary person somewhere else.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by geofft on Sunday August 23, 2020 @11:20PM (#24257280)
Really? I mean, think of the story of Boris Yeltsin visiting a grocery store.

Is the life of the average North Korean government official actually better than my life as an SRE in Brooklyn? I think I have way more access to luxuries than they do.

Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by actuator on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:43PM (#24257145)
Could end up as a rich real estate mogul though as a unification condition. Still a decent deal.

Probably have to be at that position to understand that rationale I guess, right now it just seems heartless.

Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by verroq on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:43PM (#24257143)
When was the last time North Korea had a race riot?

Also North Korea has a lot more geopolitical disadvantages at hand, namely sanctions.

An ethno state helps you avoid several classes of problems, like strict typing prevents runtime type errors. It doesn’t solve all administration problems.

Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by actuator on Sunday August 23, 2020 @11:01PM (#24257209)
But patronage of two big states which would be more than happy to keep a developed buffer state between US military bases. NK at least was rich in resources unlike SK.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by bawolff on Monday August 24, 2020 @03:27AM (#24258236)
When was the last time most countries had a race riot? Some countries have racial tension but not all ethnically diverse countries have serious racial tension.

Even if its not race, all countries have divisions. Some countries function well enough that divisions dont devolve into riots. Other's don't.

> It doesn’t solve all administration problems.

The parent post basically was claiming that it helped with all administrative problems (a claim that i certainly agree is absurd)

Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by mef on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:22PM (#24257059)
if you care to look you'll find it's often at the expense of those who aren't part of the homogenous culture. It can be hidden or minimized, but it doesn't make it go away.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by vore on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:21PM (#24257055)
Pretty sure China's not an ethnostate, as much as the CPC would want it to be, and pretty sure the lack of internal division is from their atrocious suppression of minority groups.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by barry-cotter on Sunday August 23, 2020 @11:48PM (#24257387)
Less than 5% of the Chinese population is non-Han. I think the Manchu are the single largest minority and their language is for all practical purposes dead, along with any living distinct culture.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by verroq on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:33PM (#24257102)
China is still vast majority Han Chinese, with 55 minorities. It does not invalidate the point.
Re:Patrick Collison's Questions by actuator on Sunday August 23, 2020 @10:34PM (#24257104)
Doesn't make what he said false though. If your state caters to mostly the wishes of the 93% majority suppressing others, you can effectively consider it to be an ethnostate for arguments.