>>> Gordon Fitch <gcf at panix.com> 04/23/00 12:31AM >>>
Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> >> No, I'd criticize North Korea more freely, *if* I were a North
> >> Korean, but I'm *not*.
Dennis:
> >I'll believe that the precise moment you can find me a North
> >Korean who openly criticized their own government and lived
> >to tell about it.
> >
> >As a general principle, First World radicals shouldn't nail their
> >flags to the masts of Third World one-party states of whatever political
> >provenance. That's not our job.
Brad De Long:
> Plus it causes most everybody else you talk to to conclude that you
> are a monster raving loon...
Isn't there an epistemological problem here? How do we know things about North Korea?
_______________
CB: Yes, or in the law we call it evidence. What are the sources of our evidence ? and how reliable are they ? Everyone has to rely on at least some number of other people for their evidence. So, we must evaluate the various sources of evidence for bias, completeness ( the whole truth or context), etc.
CB