• stickly@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    You realize a non negligible portion of any population will be mentally unfit or have conditions (genetic or otherwise) which leave them illiterate? Claiming 100% while ignoring that may as well be saying “everyone who can read and write is literate”.

    If you’re taking an honest measure and still claiming it’s possible to approach anywhere near 100% literacy you must be advocating for some impressive eugenics programs.

    …Or you could just admit the country with (totally not dynastic) heads of state claiming to win 99.93% of the vote might be lying through their teeth…

    • vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works
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      1 day ago

      While conditions like that can and do exist, you are vastly over estimating their prevalence in small populations, or vastly overestimating the total population of NK.

      Additionally Kim Jong Un is not the head of state and never has been, and given he’s not voted on by the public it’s never been claimed he has won an election by that percentage.

      • stickly@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        Wtf does population size have to do with it? It’s a percentage of any population, unless you think smaller populations are magically more mentally and physically fit

        is not the head of state and never has been

        Sorry my apologies, he’s only General Secretary of the only party in the country [which unilaterally decides who’s name appears on NK’s single candidate ballots] and President of State Affairs. His duties include:

        the power to lead the overall affairs of the state and appoint important state officials. The president also has the power to appoint diplomatic representatives and conclude treaties with other countries. The president can declare a state of emergency, a state of war or a mobilization order and direct the country’s national defence during times of war. The president also has absolute control over North Korea’s nuclear arsenal

        But totally not the head of state. Would you also like me to specify that Starmer isn’t technically head of state?

        it’s never been claimed he won an election by that percentage

        My apologies, his party won 99.93% of votes for parliament (with near 100% turnout). He personally was elected with 100% of parliament’s vote (no abstentions).

        Here’s a totally normal, completely not staged, photo of his voters dancing after casting their votes.

        • vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works
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          23 hours ago

          Wtf does population size have to do with it? It’s a percentage of any population, unless you think smaller populations are magically more mentally and physically fit

          …Statistics. The number of people mentally impaired enough to no longer be able to read, which is a ridiculously intense and rare mental disability, is close to 1 in 100 million. There are not 100 million North Koreans. All ‘common’ disabilities would still allow literacy to international standards.

          But totally not the head of state. Would you also like me to specify that Starmer isn’t technically head of state?

          So why’d you post a paragraph of a position Kim Jung Un DOES NOT HOLD, according to your own information? He’s not the president. He’s not the head of state. He is the head of the military, appointed by congress. There are no public votes for any title he holds. His position is voted on by congress, which is voted on by the people.

          His role beyond his military duties is mostly ceremonial. He does not appoint officials beyond military roles, and given it’s not a military junta by anyone’s claim…

          ‘Single Party’ also doesn’t mean ‘single choice,’ it means ‘singular goal.’ If your goal is something other than communism, you’re not allowed to hold elected office in any communist country. Just like communists are not allowed to hold political office in the United States, and fascist party members aren’t allowed to hold office in Germany, theoretically.

          The ‘Single party’ is communism. There are multiple factions on how to achieve that, which generates the multiple candidates which are on the ballots.

          Edit: also this photo has nothing to do with voting. Please stop reading ‘RadioFreeAsia,’ they are not a news source.

          • stickly@lemmy.world
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            21 hours ago

            1 in 100 million. There are not 100 million North Koreans

            Gonna go ahead and discard any further discussion; you’ve proven you don’t comprehend the topic at the most basic level. Claimed literacy rate, measured as a percent of population , can be compared directly against the percent of incapable population.

            Raw numbers have jack shit to do with it, you should probably go back to stats class if you think they do. The odds of 20+ million people all being literate is vanishingly small, the only reason to accept that statement is believing the probability of NK press lying to be 0.

            ‘Single Party’ also doesn’t mean ‘single choice,’

            The fucking voting system is yes/no on a single candidate, who’s chosen for the ballot by a party committee. They made headlines by allowing party primaries in limited districts recently, the first time multiple people are on the ballot since 1948. Truly a bastion of democracy when they let you choose from two apparatchiks!

            So why’d you post a paragraph of a position Kim Jung Un DOES NOT HOLD, according to your own information? He’s not the president.

            It’s shocking you’re going to bat for NK without even understanding the basic political landscape. He is the PRESIDENT of the State Affairs Commission. Which part of those duties sound any different than any other president or prime minister? Pedantics over title (President/Chairman, NDC/SAC) or the specific electoral process does not change the powers of the role.

            This is basic shit, you can just go look up from any source instead of making up DPRK fanfic.

            • vagrancyand@sh.itjust.works
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              20 hours ago

              Gonna go ahead and discard any further discussion

              That does track for you people.

              Raw numbers have jack shit to do with it, you should probably go back to stats class if you think they do. The odds of 20+ million people all being literate is vanishingly small, the only reason to accept that statement is believing the probability of NK press lying to be 0.

              Except statistics are pointless in a vacuum. If you have a chance of 1 in a million, it is vanishingly unlikely that 100 chances hits that one in a million. This is especially true when speaking about disabilities, most of which are genetic (which means most populations do NOT have the same chances), most of which do not impair literacy. Period.

              If you have an accurate accounting of the population, and an accurate method of ensuring that population becomes educated, then grats, you get 100% literacy in a small enough population.

              The exceedingly few disabilities that would cause illiteracy, literally only a handful of which exist period and the total number of humans that have them is less than 7 figures world wide, do not occur in most populations frequently enough to apply to ANY GIVEN GROUP of people under 100 Million.

              Practically no disability stops literacy entirely (that isn’t unbelievably expensive to keep the subject alive), and the few that do, again, are so impractically rare it’d be surprising if there are a handful of those individuals on the Asian continent.

              It’s shocking you’re going to bat for NK without even understanding the basic political landscape. He is the PRESIDENT of the State Affairs Commission. Which part of those duties sound any different than any other president or prime minister? Pedantics over title (President/Chairman, NDC/SAC) or the specific electoral process does not change the powers of the role.

              If Irony were a disability you’d be disabled.

              • stickly@lemmy.world
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                20 hours ago

                Except statistics are pointless in a vacuum. If you have a chance of 1 in a million, it is vanishingly unlikely that 100 chances hits that one in a million.

                Gooooooooo baaaaaaack tooooooo schooooooooooool 🤡

                Edit: of your “1 in 100M” people literally incapable of learning to read, I’ve personally met 4. What are the odds in a country of less than 400M?..

                especially true when speaking about disabilities, most of which are genetic (which means most populations do NOT have the same chances), most of which do not impair literacy… [rambling for 8 paragraphs]

                *Source: your ass 😂

                “Buhbuhbut the population is smaaaaaaall (lets ignore that that also means less schools, teachers and resources…)”