[jimlongton]

> it’s worth noting what they’ve accomplished in getting to a place where they can afford to worry about that as one of their primary concerns

It's probably also worth noting the long history of military dictatorships, murderous suppression of worker rights, massive ongoing corruption (including a literal cult controlling the government until 2016) and the highest suicide rate in the world. Reducing the story to just economies is truly narrow minded.

[signatoremo]

You can say the same things, or even worse, about many countries in the same time frame — China, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile. South Korea both achieved economy miracle, and transformed itself into a solid democracy, better than any of the others

[gottorf]

And yet, despite all that, the median person is much, much better off than prior to all the economic development.