These are the world’s most fragile states in 2019

Yemen leads the list of the most fragile nations, with the U.S. and U.K. among the "most worsened."

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There are some rankings no nation wants to lead.

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Politics & Current Affairs

Is Juche the state religion of North Korea?

Is Juche an ideology, a scam, or a very strange religion?

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  • North Koreans are known for fanatical dedication to their tyrannical rulers.
  • Some have argued that this is because the ideology of Juche is less an ideology than it is a religion.
  • Several elements of Juche were clearly influenced not by Marx, but by Confucius.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Great risk for great gain: Immigrants and innovators are psychologically the same

Don't denigrate immigrants, says Jared Diamond. You are one.

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  • Every American, without exception, is an immigrant. Native Americans immigrated 13,000 years ago, and everybody else has immigrated within the last 400 years.
  • The decision to emigrate is made by people who are healthy, strong, willing to undertake risks, and face the unknown. Those are also essential qualities for innovating.
  • It's no coincidence that the great majority of American Nobel Prize winners are either first-generation immigrants or the children of first-generation immigrants.
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What is Juche, the state ideology of North Korea?

Is it the key to understanding why North Korea acts like it does, or an elaborate sham?

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  • North Korea is an anomaly among nations, but is there a method to its madness?
  • Juche, meaning "self-reliance", is the official ideology of the country which supposedly informs its actions.
  • Some observers question the sincerity of the ideology, dismissing it as mere propaganda.
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Politics & Current Affairs

Joyless economies: Slavery, feudalism, and unregulated capitalism

Modern capitalism is a "very silly" way of organizing life, says Yanis Varoufakis.

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  • Wealth inequality in modern capitalism creates a joyless economy for both the rich and the poor, says Yanis Varoufakis.
  • Wealth inequality in a time of economic abundance makes society less civilized. More evenly distributed resources allow humans to create the literature, art and intellectual works that make human life richer.
  • The universalized depression and stress caused by inequality is "incongruent with our fantastic advances at the technological level," says Varoufakis. "It's a very silly way of organizing life."
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