Would you live in North Korea or Taliban Afghanistan?

[Crumpets]

This is a tough one. I lean towards Afghanistan because the lowest-level Taliban officials are mostly going to be young guys who aren't die-hard ideologues and are just doing what they need to do to make a living and keep their family safe. So, build up a nice bribe fund, keep your head down, and you could probably live a relatively normal life, at least as far as life in Afghanistan goes. Plus it'd be better for my career prospects to see a how a Salafist government runs from up close. Biggest downside I can see is that, without women in public life, I'd have basically no social life and pretty much zero prospects for marriage or a family unless some Mullah takes a liking to me and tries to marry off his daughter. I doubt Hinge or Bumble are very popular in Afghanistan these days.

North Korea would probably feel more normal, but I think I'd do a much worse job at sticking to the party line and I'd have 20 neighbors send write-ups on me giggling at the absurdity of the system by the end of the first week. And I doubt you'd have as easy a time making nice with your local secret police officer in North Korea compared to the Taliban. I might be able to get used to it after a while, but I don't know if I'd be able to last a while without getting locked up or sent to a labor camp.