North Korea vs. South Korea

Both in South and North Korea existed parallel scenarios in terms of their political regimes. Even the fact that South Korea is now a democratic republic, more than 2 decades ago, it was guided by a despotic regime and a political repression, which generated a lot of dissatisfaction among the population but contributed to the economic and technological growth and development they have today. In contrast, North Korea still continue having a socialist regime in which all their citizens must follow a lot of rules in order to serve the leader and do what’s best for their country; they cannot have any kind of private property, their main transport is the bicycle, they must help in all the dances and artistic demonstrations if they are asked to, they must translate their homes to far places if they’re requested to… So, in order to maintain the regime beliefs and to preserve their people acting according to the leader’s teachings, they are threatened by the government in the way that if they do improper comments or if they “misbehave”, they will be taken to distant places to make hard work in some fields (to cultivate food) and think about what they have done and reeducate them in the leader’s teachings.

This is a tyrannical way of living that North Korea still has, and I think that even when they are so radical in its beliefs, they still have a chance to make a difference because they have the entire infrastructure to become a potential country in the world. They just have to look at their closest neighbors.     

The Micro-Sociology of Religion and Social Organization in India

Micro-sociology is a way of understanding the realities of various religions. It provides techniques to define and make an analysis on religious aspects, not based only in people's comments but also in what religion actually means and experience. Micro-sociology try to see all the aspects of every religious event as closely as possible and in the precise moment when they are taking place.

There are some rituals that could be divided into formal and interactive ones. The first one is related with good manner and to give importance to social rank. The second one cause a strenghtening on emotions, relationships, and a respect for all symbols, it includes mutual focus of attention and a strong collective emotion. All religious rituals provide emotional experiences and have symbolic contents.

The social organization in India is divided into 4 recognized castes and 1 that have not been recognized yet. These castes emerge from the Brahma and each of them is supposed to heve born by one part of Brahma's body. In order of importance, the castes rank from the Brahmin, Kshatriyas, Vaishya, Shudra and the lowest one (not even considered by the society) the Dalit or Outcaste. This castes give people a place in the society.

There are many religions in the Indian culture, such as Hinduism, Islamism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism and Budism. Some of them coincide in the beliefs of samsara, which is a reencarnation cycle ruled by dharma (good things) and kharma (bad things that you should correct), and of nirvana, which is the ultimate goal to achieve (the perfect state) in Hinduism. These Indian religions are divided into monotheistic and polytheistic and implement different kinds of behaviour in order to avoid suffering and temptations.