I don’t know what the world would look from the eyes of a North Korean, so I’m just speculating. I just wanted to go point for point on a bunch of yesterday’s points on what I considered weird about them. Just because we think they do some things weird doesn’t mean we don’t. On the contrary, you thinking someone else weird virtually guarantees they will think you weird, but not in the way you’d first expect.

I recommend reading this post next to yesterday’s post. Each comment about the United States here corresponds to one from yesterday about North Korea.

We don’t have Kim statues everywhere but we have our own monuments. We have ads, billboards, and our own patriotic symbols, like flags and aircraft carriers in the Hudson River.

We have big highways overfilled. Which do you prefer, rush hour full of pollution or an empty highway?

In contrast to their highways in disrepair our highways are constantly being repaired. At least in New York City, roads are never complete and repairs delay traffic all the time.

I can’t think of a counterpart here to not allowing foreigners to talk to just anyone. I try to keep my mind open about different ways of doing things, but I can’t see cutting off communication between regular average people in any way positive.

The same goes for not letting people go where they want. We have areas someone might not want to go — places with high crime, for example, but I don’t see such things as comparable. Maybe, but a stretch.

We don’t call places imperialist or aggressive, but our leaders have called them an axis of evil. Our law enforcement and military throw around communist and terrorist labels like candy.

As for not naming allies, the U.S. acts unilaterally all the time — not necessarily comparable.

Regarding aid from other countries, international trade is a big mess for the U.S. We dump commodities and goods all over, helping our economy at the expense of others.

I should repeat here what I’ve said many times before. I’m not trying to find differences between countries. They’re easy to find. I look for similarities, which tell you more about yourself and help you grow.

They have no monopoly on claiming victimhood. How many people get plastic surgery instead of exercising and eating better?

Those outrageous claims are bizarre. I can’t make sense of them. Then again, we have our religions too. I heard one of the reasons they suppress Christianity there is that they appropriated stories from the Christian Bible for Kim Il Sung. As far as I know the Christian Bible appropriated its stories from older religions and they’re just as bizarre and fanciful here.

I can’t make sense of their placing their leaders in all the public works pictures.

If they dress conservatively, our dress doesn’t vary much more either. People follow trends too. Our styles provoke more, but I don’t know how much more they vary. We have more styles, but any individual still follows others. Here conformity comes from within rather than being imposed from without.

Okay, I’m not going to go point by point for each point, but you get the idea. The challenge is to see yourself from another point of view — to challenge yourself.

Not challenging yourself is so easy. Growth is hard but gives you a chance to improve yourself, which pointing out differences doesn’t help you do.

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