YouSaid · the spoken record

Yeonmi Park

lines on the record: 117
first: 2021-07-01
most recent: 2021-07-01
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“So my roar is very small in that regard, and I just hope that Words humanized North Koreans for the first time because we have been so dehumanized, right? Like we are like looking like robots if you look at us marching and cry like when you later dies. It almost seems like we don't even have the same emotions. People cannot connect us in the same lever. And I think that's something media have done it to us.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's just random. I think, I don't know how the history will remember me. I think only thing I have to at this point to make sure is that the people after consulting a lot of security teams, like Nano Korea became a lot smarter, like you said, they make it more disguised as a suicide and I car accident. So when I die, they don't even know I got cared. That's a higher chance. So I think that's a thing like people are suffering, take it or not, it's your choice, and at least it's my responsibility for them to know what's going on. I think if you did not know and didn't do anything, you are not even guilty of Wants you know, then you are not doing it, then you something is not right. So that's what I'm doing. I want people to know. And then what they want to do is not my problem afterwards, right?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So that's a thing. I was reading this book for the by randomness, right? I was like, they were up here, like, oh Micah, you're so courageous. You're amazing. I was like, no, I'm not. I'm horrible. I know myself. You don't want to tell me that. It's a random why I end up here. Like, why did I pick up being read so quickly? Why do I love books? Right? I don't know why.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The thing I think I'm here for the process of pursuing something bigger than me, process of doing something Not immoral, it's not a virtue singer anything, it just makes me happy that I fight for something bigger like that me, right? So how boring is that every day you get up like, oh my God, I'm gonna buy myself this, I'm gonna get this for myself. It's so boring, isn't it? So in a way, I think that's what it is. I'm grateful that I'm in a state. I don't have to fly for myself anymore. But more new people have to do that. And that's sometimes more than enough they have to do. And I salute them. They are doing fighting, saving themselves every day. But now I'm not there. I'm very blessed. That's why I'm very grateful.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think at this point I stop questioning why I'm here, right? Like, it doesn't matter someone put the atom there or the big bang. I'm here, that's truth, right? I'm gonna accept that fully. So instead of me keep asking the impossible question, what I'm here, I'm gonna let you do that.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Everybody wanted something from me. That's why they wanted me. And I never understood you can love somebody unconditionally. And this gay guy, the last one was one who sleep with me, right? And he loves me. And I think I had a blessing after my journey meeting people who loved me unconditionally because I was just being a human. And I think that's what it is now for me, that him. what I do. I love my people. I love humanity. Even it's sometimes annoys me. I love my”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He goes the entire journey, right? He goes in the state, like I'm so enlightened that I cannot deal with the people there in love and cry about it. They're like, that's so primitive once he has his own son, he actually being attached. He actually cares. He actually really does whole thing. Right? That's a thing that he used to think not once his son comes find him. He looks at life differently. I think that's the thing I did have that kind of journey where, oh, nothing matters, right? So bitter. So like, so cynical. I met so many incredible people. I was talking about that person who told me he was gay. He told me, I love you. And I was like, why do you love me? In the past, people went.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That would be in paradise, right? But I'm a rational optimist. I'm not just optimistic because I have to be I think as long as there are people who have changed the world, right? Like who believed in something and worked for it. And I don't know, like there's a Alice Sherrox, a few people holding entire this word, right? I really believe in that. I think as long as that continues, that can happen in my country. As long as people like you someday want to decide to do something about North Korean working for using your manpower to solve this puzzle, how fascinating would that be? That's why I continue to speak, continue to recruit.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I was afraid for those ever three, four years I was afraid and it was, but I had to came terms with it like my enemy is not some crazy psychopath, it's a state with a nuclear power to attack the most powerful country. If Gim Jong decides if I die, I'm gonna die. It's not up to me, right? So in a way, also liberating that if you are like afraid of some mobs or some gangsters on the street, it's almost like you have power over it a little bit. You gotta be like thinking that's my fault I went that way, right? But when it comes to Kim Jong-un, I know my enemy is so much bigger than me. It's in a way the liberation and also it just I lived a lot, so I have seen a lot. I've seen everything. I don't have that much regret left here like, okay, I'm going too soon, you know. It's like, okay, maybe it's time. Like that is a part of life.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Nobody does here. I'm sure they know what's going on, but the South Korean agent is more like, oh my gosh, we don't want you to get killed as South Korean citizen, right? Now I'm trying to become a citizen. So it's in a way, I don't know what's worse.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They don't because they don't want to be involved. They didn't even protect Kim Jong-n who was giving information 10 years risking his life. That's what is so, I mean, working for CI is not bad. I don't, I hope, I mean, the thing is that he was giving information to bring down the vision. Is valuable. That is something novel about him. But then you just don't go extra miles to that. That's when I lost my faith in the US system as well. Like this country just cares about a saving face. What is most minimum cost they pay for anything. And I went up to South Korea constantly every single day intelligence calling me. Like the North Korean agent going this place, where are you going? The US came to US? Nobody. That's when people said that URCIA agent I wish they called me. I wish they wished me.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“They move on to the next cute puppy, right? The next cute cat. Like, that's what the nature of this. New generation does the desensitized. It doesn't affect them. They keep following this instant pleasure, instant high. That's what Instagram does to you. It changes your brain. Like that's why I was remiss shallows. We became shallow and shallow and our brain changed permanently. So this inner generation, we can get them angry for like 10 minutes, create hashtags for one day. But then as quick as that was, it goes down like instantly. And I think that's the”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“No, because Saudis spoke to Amazon, the prime studio, Netflix. There were people made the documentary about him, but told everybody cannot get that deal. So there was a huge censorship on that. And people of course like, I mean, they can talk about it one day, some distance from Saudi got cared.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We cannot stand it. Any changing maker in this world who wasn't controversial, right? Martin Luther King Jr., like Nurse Mandela, he was called as a terrorist, right? So I just did not know I.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Everybody think you're a liar. Like, everybody think you're a liar. And now everybody, like you said, this nature of internet is that as long as something is written internet, they think that's a fact. The person can start a blog and write about you. But they think, oh, because it's written on intern is legit.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Remember differently, so they got the voice recording the penguin recording got the old audience, and now we are ready for the lawsuit. We are going to publish this book because we check the verified every single thing that was going in the book. And North Korea couldn't do anything anymore.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It does opposite because Kim Jong I spoke out. I don't know if you went through the day, did everything they could to character assassinate me, saying I'm a liar, I'm a CIS spy, I get paid. And then they reach out to Penguin saying, we're going to blow up. You cannot write this book. And they did it with the Sony. They hacked the Sony studio for making that stupid movie interview, right? And then Penguin did their investigation. They met every survivor that I went through in the desert. They got the voice recordings of them because they don't want them to change their mind later, right?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The word is we think we live in justice. No, there's no justice. There is no accountability for killing any descent, no matter how big their names are.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Is a lot of tragedy that I fear so sorry for the US government is that Kim Jong-n was giving information to the CIA for the past like ten years. Trip when he got killed demolished in the airport, he was meeting up with the CI agent for two days on the Northern Island. Could have protected him. They didn't. They let him die. North Krink don't care them. Do you know the Malaysian ladies, the VX, the nerve agent? North Koreans scared them. In Malaysian Europe in the international land. So Emimu Jamakashiki, who was youth resident and washing post journalist, when he got killed in Saudi like a lamb, they chopped them into pieces. In that most inhumane death, what was the consequence for the Saudis? Nothing.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I do because I was informed actually when I was 21 that I was on the killing list of Kim Jong-un in spy South Korea intelligence. And then I had to leave you that, right? But now I actually feel more because I don't know you follow Jammakashughi's story, the Saudi journalist. Chopped off in Turkey canvas, right? His reason why he got killed was he became very prominent on Twitter. He had a huge voice and Saudis followed him. Now I became the very first North Korean to have this many social media followings. And recently North Korea started investigation team to analyze whatever I do. Even though it's the first time for them, so they don't even know what this point. Like they're like, this is so new. What do we do? With Kim Jong-n? Kim Jong-am, the half-brother of Kim Jong got killed in Malaysia.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, and that is my responsibility enough. So it doesn't make them, their fault was not meaningless, right? It meant something because now I'm carrying on that fight.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And for your life, literally. If you have my father working, dying is a lot easier than living. It takes like a few minutes, right? Maximum. Leaving takes forever. So when I was facing this unbelievable challenge, I thought, okay, this most rational thing I can do is killing myself right now. But the hardest thing I can choose is choose to live. And my father did that, even in the concession camp, even no matter what he said, life is a gift. You need to fight for it. And I think What's missing here that we don't think life is a gift? It's a gift. Like, how many people had to fight for me to be here today? Think about the sacrifice they made for many, many, many generations. I don't even know what they went through. I can't even fathom what they went through.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“You don't want to do that to yourself. But think about like we are sitting here today, two of us in this amazing technology, this country. Because somebody in Savannah, hundreds of thousands of years ago, they're hunting berries and surviving cold, every suffering they can imagine. They fall for us. That's what we ended up here. Life is ultimately bigger than us. I think that's what I want them. It's not like I want them to do the right thing and be the best person themselves. It's like I want them to feel grateful. And we should be feeling grateful.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Last thing I want them to fear is guilty. It's Doesn't do anything, right? So I hate when people talk about a white girl. It's like that doesn't make even any sense, right? Think the fact that they born with freedom is a blessing for all of us. It's not like I want them to want to do something because they are guilty. I want them to do something because they are grateful It is true, like, we are sitting here. The fact why I have children is suffering. Having kids, you don't sleep. Costly, like so much work. Like logical rational mind, you should never want children. Right? Why would you do that to yourself, especially as a woman, right”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And North Korea proves that to us. It doesn't matter even if you are smart. That's all irrelevant. And I think that's why people just keep denying that they want to feel special. Like because I'm awesome, I got all of this. Like, no, it's not you. You got this. And when people say, like, I hate capitalism. Without capitalism, how do you come up with this thing? Literally. How did you come up with this?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“It's not about a kerchief. It is not about people. It is not about IQ. What makes us different is a system. South Korea is a perfect example of that. One is the exact same capability. We are homogeneous like country, same language, tradition, all of that. We gave them differences then. One is free democracy, one is dictatorship, and came up with the biggest different result. And I think North Korea revears that to us. It's not because we are great that we are living in this prosperity. Free market. The ideas gave us to this, the system we built, our ancestors built, gave us this privilege. Not us. Nothing is about us being special here, right? The system that we have is quite special.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Exalt Korea. That's what they exactly did, right? The exact same Korea. One became world like 11th largest economy. One became the world's most poorest nation, right? And this is a perfect example. Like if I don't know if you read that book, Why Nation Fairs?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Think it is a few things, right? Like, so North Korea as a nation, number one or number two smartest IQ people in the world despite their malnutrition.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“A lot of people think it's a joke. They just think like this is too absurd. They laugh. Like, can you imagine you laugh at Holocaust? This is that ridiculous.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. So back then when I reached out, Michael to mutual friends, South Korea, my English wasn't good. So I got a copy in my hand. I tried to read and a lot of them I didn't understand. But I thought it was very fascinating how he explained North Skid through the dear leader's perspective. There's a nobody has ever done that, and you can revere so much about the state and absurdity of entire situation. And also through humor, I think that's what's amazing about my grace is he knows the full gravity of tragedy. He knows the full suffering. He's not just like people here in America on the both feet making fun of Kim Zong's haircut. Don't care what people go through. Micah cares.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“How much money would I pay? No limit. And I reached out to Michaela on her pockets on Twitter and connected. And then one day she said, do you want to go on my father's podcast? I was like, what? Like, of course I was very nervous, but I didn't expect him to be that connected. I thought he was psychologist. He saw so much suffering in the world. He started Soviet Union. His hobbies collecting those things to remind him of the suffering of a human being. So sometimes some people hear so much atrocity, they become like... Very, you know, not engaged”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So for me, it was like okay, I'm like alive in the same contemporary world with one of the greatest thinkers of my entire generation. And then, like, how much”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And then I got home, and then later, many years later, I got a book, and I was starting his book. And it talks about, it explains so much, right? Like now at Columbia learned everything gender is like made of concept, construct, like the hierarchy of why men's idea make the hierarchy. And then he begins with the number one, the lasters had the hierarchies, the evolution of history that is within us that we want a hierarchy, right? And then chapter five about socialization of child, you know, how do you raise them? And all of it, and then what's why telling the truth is matters, right? And there's a why, like it's anti-12 lessons I read it, and there's like, I was so grateful that I'm alive, there are people always say, if Socrates is alive, how much would you pay to have lunch with him? That kind of thing, right?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yes, so Dave Rubin came up before him and made jokes. I still don't know who Dave Rubin is. Afterwards, I met them all. But back then I had no clue what that is. And then he was giving lessons, but what I got from that night was not what Jordan said. But what people did on the audience. These people like, I don't know thousands of people in this big theater crying like babies. And that's like whatever that guy is doing is very special, right? He was like making any jokes. He had no slice, just a warm simple person standing in the huge giganticator talk. Long time too, and people cry. It's like wow, okay, whatever that is, I gotta check it out.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“So here's a mystery, the Jordan Pierce. Very long one. So one day I was walking down in Chicago and they were like huge theater were sold at. He said big letter Jordan Peterson saw that. And then it was a huge theory in the middle of Chicago, right? Like, he doesn't like comedians who can be selling this entire thing at like 7 p.m. And then with my ex husband, we are walking the street. And then we saw people were like selling these tickets for a very higher price, right? And then do you want to tick it? And then he was like, yeah, sure. We ran in. packed. And then I was just gave birth or like, but I wasn't able to understand his English that much. My English was.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And they don't know the consequences of that. And this is why I promote, I want the freedom of speech, even though it hurts ridiculous, you know, sometimes it can be dangerous. But the price, the alternative is so bad that we should take this trade-off. Everything has a trade-off in this world. And it comes with a sacrifice, right? So I think that's what I want to see in America, but it's unfortunately the people, like you say, who decides what is hate speech, what is dangerous. That's what I've been getting scared. Because everybody's imperfect. How do we want to give the power to them? And they're going to decide today they might agree with me. Say, okay, your speech is good, promotes good. And then they might come back next year, say your speech is bad. What are you not doing that happens to you?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's why we need promo freedom of thinking and speech, right? And one thing that I love about Dr. Peters is human psychologist, right? He talks about we think by talking. That's why when you go to therapy, you talk and then you hear yourself and then you think and you come up to the answer. It's so important for humans to talk so we can think. So when they say you cannot talk means you cannot think.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Even music, even these paintings. And I didn't raise my hand. Everyone was looking at me. How do you not have the problem with West? Like you should hate West. You're Asian. So I think that's the thing. I think the problems are way deeper than what people think. When I learned, it's like. It's not that safe in America. We can go complete to the south. And looking at even Europe, that is like I use way more optimist than now I actually see, wow, this country can go to south. And we might, if US force land, right, this is the only country left to battle with the Communist Party in China. We may lose opportunity to be free again as a humanity.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Was there four years. It wasn't like I had one class that was bad in a one semester. Was them, and Dr. Pierre was asking, Is there any one class that had no sentiment of this virtue signaling policy Entire course. I think I took 126 credits total. Not even one class. Doesn't matter we are talking about classic art and that's the thing. I literally thought, okay, I push it last semester decor like the art and music, right? So I thought this is going to be the least politically correct class I can take. And then it begins with who has problem with calling this course the Western Civilization of Art and Music. And it was raising their hands. Because like, why do you have to learning about this better and mozzare the bigots and or the people? You know, everything ruined the Bible.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And I thought, okay, now America is truly the land of the free home of the brave. You can say anything you want. And then you have freedom to change your mind any further, right? But the people now demand you to be the perfect version. They demand you to be. You cannot change your mind. And then what is the meaning of life you cannot grow? You should be fear safe to talk about anything. And then later, okay, I was wrong. But now if you do that, you gotta like get penalized for it.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think deeply it made me dumber. It made me scared. It made me terrified that I had to censor myself in America. Are you seriously telling me that you don't ever censor yourself? And when you talk, can you truly say whatever you want about race, about anything, gender, we all censor ourselves. Let's be honest, right? Or doing that. And that's what I learned. Like, I thought I was coming to country where never needed. Like, first thing my mom taught me growing up in North Korea was, don't even whisper because the birds and mice could hear you.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And that is where there's no way out. There's no forgiving. There's no moving forwards. And this current culture in America now, like I remember at Columbia, like before class, everybody had to go around saying, tell us what your pronoun is. And my English, my third language I learned as author. Even saying he and she, I'm confused by a pure mistake. They said, Komi Day because I'm gender fluid. Basically, I can be a girl, but next hour you talk to me, I'm a boy. And if you don't do it right, they like you look at your eye or big, right? And I see me so nervous. And this is where I come to. This is a regression of civilization. We are regressing as a humanity here. Like the alignment, all of those things made us so much brighter and looking forward now. We are going backwards.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That's what makes us special, but then like because his kids coming from this family let's find a reason why they cannot and then they don't have to do that thing. But they still deserve the same job. They need to be a lawyer and doctors. And that's like what in North Korea was not, there was not even meritocracy to begin with, did you born the same family, the family, the blood, right? If one person does something wrong, it's like collective gear because I spoke out three generations of my family got punished who I left behind. And then in America, I see the same thing. Like if you're somehow great-great-grandfather on the slave, now you are privileged and you're guilty because you are white and guilt than but how do you change your ancestor? How did you have a saying on it?”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Demon It's literally meritocracy being demonized right now in America, working hard is a symbol of you coming from some established family. The fact that you celebrate accomplishment and hard work is a sign of your patriarch or whatever thing they call, right? And they want to abolish that. They will not stop giving kids grades. That's what they're already doing, right? They want to abolish SAT in America they take to go to college, right? They won't even abolish this, yeah, some kids have no ability to. So, why do we have to force him to learn math? And that's what comes with humans' overcome challenges.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Like Mega Marco joined the royal family, and she became a lawyer. You go up by North Korea. If someone from high class is going to marry somebody down, you only go down That's how they prevent classmates.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely. In America now, the meritocracy doesn't matter, right? It's evil, that why man's idea of talking about if you are competent enough, they say, oh, if you're coming from rich white family, you are going to be competent. So other people don't have a chance, but look at Asians who came from nothing as competent and go to like Harvard Law School and Medical School. So it doesn't almost, it's like there's no incentive for you to work hard anymore in the system right now. That is North Korea. There's no incentive because you're born with your class already. So no matter what you do, you can never. So the horrible thing about North Korean system is that there's nothing even calling Mary up. So if you're coming from other cultures,”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We can have anarchy state. There's no police, nothing going on. You can be whatever you are. And you can go on a state where it's like abortion is bad, blah, blah, this is bad. All this are conservative values. And let the ideas compete and let them how they are being practiced in real life. But I think it's very scary when the US government is getting bigger and bigger and then they try to make every state under one big government. And that's when I get really alarmed.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah. So I think that's why government can be bad. They can be very dumb. And another thing is that they cannot know what you want. A lot of times people don't even know what they want as an individual. Like how the heck do you government gonna know what is best for you? Nobody knows. We just all do our best. I do think though some governments against Switzerland have more give power to the different state can be good. I think I'm more in like giving power to the state and let individuals decide where they want to go within states. I mean why did you choose Texas, right? There's no income tax, right? Like there's a lot of things people find Texas like you know charming and they come here so in a way that I don't want to be in the one strong government to make every single thing the same way in a way I want to kind of experiment everything”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I am not, I mean, I spoke to Michael Mallis. I kept asking why he's anarchist, right? And he doesn't believe in military, none of that thing. I was like, I was like, I don't think I want to be in that world. Freedom is scary. I want the law enforcement. I want like I don't. In a way that So, why equality makes no sense is that the fact that when you and I were born, we were born in a very different capability of thinking, different intelligence, different capability in our physics, right? So equality is nonsense. You can never achieve that. So to me, that's very scary.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“We know that freedom comes with responsibility. And in a way, it's not that easy to be free, thinking for yourself, constantly when you in a way I understand, like let's give government every power we have, let them decide what education that I get. Let them decide where I live. Like, you know, let someone figure that out for me. And that's how North Korea began, hoping the government is going to represent my own interest, believing that they were good. And with that benefit of doubt and good faith, it began the nightmare, right? So, freedom is not like a gateway to be happy at all. In a way, you can make life a lot more complex. But then it's fun, isn't it? You start being for yourself, you start making mistakes, and it's so fun to be free, even though you can't be suffering way more than the people who are not free.”
2021-07-01 · Lex Fridman Podcast · #196 – Yeonmi Park: North Korea · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source