Milisters ysh, Pak Nuzul menulis : “…….Seorang pengamat dan praktisi politik boleh mengatakan bahwa Korea Utara ekonominya hancur lebur karena system ekonominya tertutup. Seorang diplomat yang pernah bertugas di sana mengatakan kekagumannya di tengah keterisolasian Korut, pemerataan kesejahteraan masyarakat di Korut sangat mengesankan, tidak ada kriminilitas, tidak ada kemacetan, tidak ada korupsi yang sangat menonjol……”. Dari sumber lain : 1). Ttg kesejahteraan di Korut : Medical care is free, and there is at least one clinic in each village, but there is a shortage of physicians, medical equipment, and medicine…. The overall standard of living and the lot of the peasants have improved since World War II. North Korea was established as a classless society but a new, privileged elite of high-ranking military and KWP officials has emerged. Because of the high priority given to industrialization and defense, the provision of consumer goods and social services has long been inadequate. During the period of severe economic hardship in the 1990s, shortages of food and daily necessities and the collapse of the national grain-rationing system forced many North Koreans to desert their homes and families in search of food. Hospitals and health care centers ran out of medicine and medical supplies, and the social welfare system went through a period of failure despite sustained relief assistance extended by various national and international relief agencies. 2). Ttg ketiadaan kriminalitas di Korut : North Korea's burden of crime and terror (By Bertil Lintner) : BANGKOK - ……. As recently as February 16, while the United States was trying to improve relations with North Korea, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) - which provides background briefing papers for members of the US Congress - published a 14-page report on "North Korean Crime-for-Profit Activities". The report alleges that North Korea is smuggling heroin and methamphetamines, that it produces counterfeit currency and cigarettes, and that it also may be engaged in insurance fraud as a matter of policy. North Korea's involvement in large-scale, international heroin trafficking first came to light when, in February 1995, Russian law enforcement officials in the far eastern port city of Vladivostok arrested two North Korean employees of a North Korean state logging company and seized 8 kilograms of heroin. According to what the North Koreans told a Russian undercover police operative, the shipment seized was a sample that was supposed to demonstrate the quality of 2.3 tonnes (4,840 lbs) of heroin to follow. The North Korean assured the Russian agent that they could supply that amount of heroin if requested. Then, in July 2002, police in Taiwan seized 79 kilograms of high-grade heroin and arrested six suspects in a daring raid in the port city of Keelung. The investigation showed that the heroin, with a market value of $5.63 million, was smuggled from North Korea in a fishing boat and that a Taiwanese ship had been arranged to pick up the drugs at sea and bring them into Taiwan. …………
3) Ttg tiada korupsi di Korut : Dari AFP : 2008.01.30 SEOUL – Authorities in North Korea have launched a high-level probe into two government bodies responsible for administering foreign investment in the isolated Stalinist state, in a rare acknowledgment of corruption in the Workers' Paradise. Overseas investors say the National Economic Cooperation Federation (NECF) is being probed by Pyongyang officials after frequent complaints from investors – who are mostly South Korean – that they were being ripped off. The North Korean People's Council for National Reconciliation, which deals with ties with South Korea, is also under investigation following reports of corruption. While corruption affects every aspect of North Korean life, the probe comes in response to complaints from foreigners, upon whom Pyongyang relies for food aid and investment……… Too-big government : Money can buy anything in North Korea. – North Korean defector Choo Myung-hee Kang Chul Hwan, North Korean defector and co-director of Democracy Network against North Korean Gulag, said government in the communist state was far too big. "Economic distress and the size of government is the root of all evil in North Korea," Kang said. "North Korean government agencies are too numerous and too big, and the only way to support these agencies and their officials is to squeeze it out of the already hard-pressed people." And Lee Dong Hoon, who defected from North Korea in 2006, said abuses by government officials affect all walks of life, from farming to the distribution of food aid……….. --- On Tue, 5/26/09, Nuzul Achjar <[email protected]> wrote: From: Nuzul Achjar <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [referensi] Ekonomi Bejo To: [email protected] Date: Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 12:08 PM Uda Eka dan Sahabat Referensiers Ysh, Saya tidak bermaksud menjawab secara langsung pertanyaan uda Eka, hanya menggeser pertanyaan tersebut, atau katakanlah menambahkan lagi pertanyaan yang kira-kira begini: “apakah pendekatan neoliberalisme itu ada dalam kebijakan pembangunan daerah (regional development)” ?. Kalau tentang Indonesia, terus terang saya tidak tahu karena saya belum menemukannya. Mungkin sahabat referensiers bisa beri pencerahan. Tetapi kalau di negara-negara lain, tulisan tentang pendekatan neoliberalism dalam spatial development relatif banyak, apalagi yang berkenaan dengan masalah perkotaan. Kita ambil contoh Australia. Dalam tulisannya, Tonts dan Haslam-MaKenzie (2005) "Neoliberalism and Changing Regional Policy in Australia". International Planning Studies 10( 3–4): 183–200, pendekatan neoliberal mulai muncul pada dekade 1980an. Sebelumnya, pada decade 1970an, di bawah pemerintahan PM Whitlam (Partai Buruh), pemerintah Federal turun tangan langsung mengatasi ketidakmerataan kesejahteraan sosial melalui pembangunan regional. Whitlam mengangkat isu kemiskinan. Pada jaman Whitlam inilah dibentuk Department of Urban and Regional Development (DURD). Setelah pemerintahan Whitlam jatuh pada 1975, DURD tidak lagi efektif. Periode ketika pembangunan regional mendapat perhatian langsung pemerintah Federal inilah yang kemudian disebut sebagai periode strategi “interventionist” . Ini yang membedakannya dengan pendekatan neoliberal yang muncul pada dekade 1980an. Zamannya PM Howard? Saya kutipkan langsung tulisan Tonts: Upon winning the election, Howard soon announced a series of major policy reforms aimed at further liberalizing the economy and downsizing the public service. This represented a return to the more “hard-line” neoliberal agenda that had characterized Australian politics in the 1980. Di AS, scholar seperti Saskia Sassen, Storper, Alen Scott, David Harvey, dll banyak menulis tentang landscape ekonomi urban dan regional akibat pengaruh dari pendekatan neoliberal. Bahasa politiknya, kalau tokh harus dibuat dikotomi, scholar tersebut agak berbau sosialis, agak kiri. Mungkin begitu istilah gampangnya ya rekan Eko van Paris (CMIIW). Kembali pada pertanyaan uda Eka: dalam mazhab ekonomi apa 'sistem perencanaan dan pembangunan' yang telah terbangun selama ini dapat tumbuh berkembang mencapai wujudnya yang ideal? Di antara kemungkinan jawabannya, satu hal yang sama sekali tidak boleh dilupakan, ideal menurut apa yang diamanatkan konstitusi. Seorang pengamat dan praktisi politik boleh mengatakan bahwa Korea Utara ekonominya hancur lebur karena system ekonominya tertutup. Seorang diplomat yang pernah bertugas di sana mengatakan kekagumannya di tengah keterisolasian Korut, pemerataan kesejahteraan masyarakat di Korut sangat mengesankan, tidak ada kriminilitas, tidak ada kemacetan, tidak ada korupsi yang sangat menonjol. Hancur dan ideal itu menurut siapa? Beberapa kali saya naik taksi di Chicago (gini-gini mantan “Chicago-pinggiran Boy” .. he he he he) si sopir Hispanic itu nyerocos terus tentang beratnya hidup di Chicago, habis untuk bayar pajak.. bayar ini bayar itu… Persis seperti nyerocosnya sopir taksi yang biasa ngetem di Bandara Changi. Kota dengan system ekonomi yang memberikan kemakmuran itu, ideal menurut siapa? Dan, adakah konsekuensi perubahan sistem karena perubahan mazhab ekonomi? Tulisan singkat ini sudah memberikan jawaban tidak langsung. Salam hangat untuk semua sahabat, Nuzul Achjar
