Right. Because no country ever had a revolution before Twitter and Facebook existed.

The problem is that the government has access to near modern levels of communication and military equipment, but there's no equalizer on the peoples' side.

The power and ability gap between the Government and the People in North Korea is probably the largest that has existed in history.

The asymmetry always existed. Weapons, education, means of transportation...

Never to this level of disparity.

This is satellites and fighter jets vs bows and arrows stuff.

My thoughts exactly.

I agree that these technologies make it easier, because you have unmonitored (or at the very least uncontrolled) avenues of communication, but revolution hasn't only happened in the last ten years!

What do you have to say about the comment left by crusso above?

That he has more of a point than the article? Even so, it's possible that revolution could start with a single high-ranking officer in the military, and defectors loyal to him.

I don't dispute the premise here - that in the recent revolutions of the Arab Spring, and likely a whole bunch more, popular access to modern comms technology has been incredibly important. I'm just reacting to the title - that revolution is impossible without it.

Without it revolution could take longer, be bloodier, be put down multiple times etc etc, or even not happen at all. But impossible? No.

If the article was called 'Why Revolution Won't Come To North Korea' that would be fine.

Indeed, would the French revolution have even happened without all the bad press the royal family got from Marie Antoinette's tweets and the subsequent flashmob at La Bastille? And the American revolution's well-attended "Boston Tea Party" Facebook event?

It might not have happened if the French government used a modern (2012) system of surveillance utilizing both technology and social networks; filled labor camps with dissenting individuals and their entire respective families; and regularly executed anyone attempting to escape. France __never__ got as bad as North Korea is today.

The author did focus too much on the enabling power of the WWW, but don't dismiss the plight of the North Korean people because of his mistake(s).

Nit: The entirety of the Korean peninsula is referred to as the "Hermit Kingdom", dating back to the Joseon dynasty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermit_kingdom

This error is a stupid example, but the entirety of this post is a bit breathless.

I think the term more accurately describes the north nowadays, so why not use it?

The DPRK deserves to be ridiculed.

No insight, no new information, not worth the time it takes to read.

This might be true if you're Lieutenant Commander Data, but both I and others believe that reframing ``old'' information often results in something of value. If it makes you think differently (or think at all!), then it's most certainly ``worth the time it takes to read''.

That is why I led with "no insight". If it was an insightful analysis of existing information, that would be great, but it's not.

prisoners stuck in prison. can't get out because the guards are immoral totalitarian rulers and will do anything to preserve their prison. Giving them internet may be a mistake. they will use it to rule with a unobtanium fist rather than an iron fist.