DPRK is obviously maligned by U.S. propaganda, but I know several people who've gone and loved it. Famously, the "Boy Boy" YouTube channel guys went and got a haircut.
“The entire development of wealth rests upon the creation of disposable time.”
—Karl Marx, Outlines of the Critique of Political Economy (Rough Draft), 1857
“…real wealth is the developed productive power of all individuals. The measure of wealth is then not any longer, in any way, labour time, but rather disposable time.”
“The saving of labour time [is] equal to an increase of free time, i.e. time for the full development of the individual, which in turn reacts back upon the productive power of labour as itself the greatest productive power.”
—The Grundrisse, 1857
“Labour-time, even if exchange-value is eliminated, always remains the creative substance of wealth and the measure of the cost of its production. But free time, disposable time, is wealth itself, partly for the enjoyment of the product, 3 partly for free activity which—unlike ‘ labour—is not dominated by the pressure of an extraneous purpose which must be fulfilled, and the fulfillment of which is regarded as a natural necessity or a social duty, according to one’s inclination. Karl Marx Theories of Surplus Value”
“Just as plants live from the earth, and animals live from the plants or | plant-eating animals, so does the part of society which possesses free time (disposable time not absorbed in the direct production of subsistence) live from the surplus labour of the workers. Wealth is therefore disposable time.” —Economic Manuscripts, 1861-1863
We are all being investigated by the Feds 24/7 — that's what dragnet surveillance is: indiscriminate investigation at scale to be used retroactively.
"Don't do anything bad and nothing will happen" is frankly asinine to me, personally. That same logic could extend to stop-and-frisk or random door-to-door visits to check for citizenship.
Never trust news about the DPRK from South Korean spy agencies. It's only a matter of months before it's proven to be nonsense. They're the ones always saying crap like "North Koreans push their trains by hand" or "Kim Jong Un claims to have invented the hamburger." Only the most brainwashed westerners buy it, but it's enough to keep the DPRK hate at a simmer.
Wages didn't drop when going from the 12 to 10 to 8 hour working day. With adequate political power wielded by labor – hypothetical in the context of the article – there's no reason to suspect that wages would go down with further reductions in the working day.
Interesting that the author doesn't mention a reduction in working hours as a solution because I see that as THE solution. Federally mandate an 18 hour work week and job demand will soar. It's just as fanciful a thought as his other suggestions given how little power we have over the federal government to exercise our will.
Writing should be for _you_ not for others. If it's not, then you won't be able to maintain it anyway. IMO yes it's still worth it if only to synthesize new thoughts, show potential employers you _think_, and to maintain a journal-like catalog of your past mindsets.
Subjective and wishy-washy framing. Sure, there's a "human culture" in that we all eat, sleep, etc. but it all depends on how you want to draw boundaries or frame the question of what culture _is_.