If you look at satellite photographs of the Far East by night, you'll see a large splotch curiously lacking in light. This area of darkness is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the stark contrast between North Korea and its neighboring regions, emphasizing the country's isolation.
Barbara Demick's quote draws attention to the lack of light in North Korea when viewed from satellite images, symbolizing not just the physical darkness but also the political and social isolation of the country. This absence of light stands as a metaphor for the restricted freedoms and the stark differences in development compared to its neighbors, suggesting that the darkness represents an area where modern life and connectivity are deeply hindered.
In practice
In a speech discussing global human rights, one might reference this quote to emphasize the plight of North Koreans.
In 2012, a five-year-old girl in Shandong province described to me how ten officials had chased her six-months-pregnant mother through the fields to prevent the birth of the family's second child, a boy. She died during the procedure.
In 1984, George Orwell wrote of a world where the only colour to be found was in the propaganda posters. Such is the case in North Korea. Images of Kim Il-sung are depicted in vivid colours. Rays of yellow and orange emanate from his face: he is the sun.
When counterterrorist policies are used to suppress peaceful protests and legitimate opposition movements, shut down debate, target human rights defenders, or stigmatize minorities, they fail, and we all lose. Indeed, such responses may cause further resentment and instability and contribute to radicalization.
There is almost no country in Africa where it is not essential to know to which tribe, or which subgroup of which tribe, the president belongs. From this single piece of information you can trace the lines of patronage and allegiance that define the state.
For a very long time, and among a large number of peoples, political power has belonged to the owners of the land.
A politician should have three hats. One for throwing into the ring, one for talking through, and one for pulling rabbits out of if elected.
The corporate revolution will collapse if we refuse to buy what they are selling - their ideas, their version of history, their wars, their weapons, their notion of inevitability. Remember this: We be many and they be few. They need us more than we need them.
If all power is in the people, if there is no higher law than their will, and if by counting their votes, their will may be ascertained - then the people may entrust all their power to anyone, and the power of the pretender and the usurper is then legitimate. It is not to be challenged since it came originally from the sovereign people.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.