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The Dangerous Reinterpretation of Freedom

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The Dangerous Reinterpretation of Freedom
Skulls of young men murdered by the Pol Pot regime in the Killing Fields of the Cambodian Holocaust, on display in a shrine to the dead, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Jan. 11, 2012. Dale Warren/Shutterstock
Barry Brownstein
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Commentary
A reader recently reminded me that North Korea’s official name is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. North Korea’s bitterly ironic naming convention has been used by other totalitarian states. The German Democratic Republic was the official name for East Germany. The genocidal government of Pol Pot in Cambodia was known as Democratic Kampuchea. South Yemen’s breakaway communist regime was known as the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen.
Barry Brownstein
Barry Brownstein
Author
Barry Brownstein is professor emeritus of economics and leadership at the University of Baltimore. He is the author of “The Inner-Work of Leadership,” and his essays have appeared in publications such as the Foundation for Economic Education and Intellectual Takeout.