Well, the answer to that is very obvious: No. No, we aren’t living the way we want to live. Communism isn’t the solution, I know, of course. But don’t get me wrong, capitalism made us the strongest nation economically. But Capitalism has its flaws and a ton of shit that comes with it. Frankly, I’m anti-capitalist and anti-marxist. The reason behind the suffering in the USA is simple: Liberalism. Liberalism rains suffering upon people. That’s the job of Liberalism. It was created to do so.
And as for North Korea, it would have failed with or without sanctions.
“You might be surprised to find yourself agreeing with Karl Marx, who argued that liberal freedoms (like private property and market competition) lead to exploitation.”
No, I don’t. Because Liberalism doesn’t lead to “exploitation”, well, actually, take that back. It kind of does. But, the main issue with Liberalism is that it degrades society, it brainwashes people, it destroys religion, it destroys and corrupts everything it touches. It confuses everybody. It makes people of a society incoherent.
I would argue that people do in fact need an economy, because the economy is what makes it possible for people to buy the things they want/need.
I suppose so, that sanctions do have a massive affect on North Korea, however, its economic system (aka communism) is what causes them to be sanctioned.