A somewhat recent trend has been the previously unfathomable decision by many escaped North Koreans to return. I used to think that the term "late stage capitalism" was a coping mechanism by those who couldn't handle what a fallen Soviet Union meant for the future of communism as an ideology. Now I wonder if the West's individualism as religion, and the complete lack of social bonds and cohesion that it gives rise to, might lend some credibility to it.