Survival of the Fittest: Exploitation of Cambodia Under the Khmer Rouge

1257 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: How poverty affects peoples mental health and wellbeing

Slavery has existed throughout history and it even exists today in various forms. Slavery is the imprisonment of an individual by another. Herbert Spencer proposed the idea of survival of the fittest in human society. With slavery, especially in today’s time, there are people who are socially stronger taking advantage of those who are weaker and more vulnerable. The societies of today view money as a form of power, and with this power it is used to entrap the weak and using them as disposable objects. One of the forms of slavery that exist today but goes unnoticed is human trafficking. Somaly Mam’s autobiography, The Road of Lost Innocence, gave her readers an inside look into her world as a sex slave in Cambodia. Throughout her book, she describes the cruel and awful things slaves experience throughout their slavery. Sex slaves and violence are persistent in societies around the world, especially in the Cambodian society, because of the lack of respect and morals and the disconnection between the people with in that society.

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southern Asia. Cambodia’s poverty is causing a lot issues within the country; two of these issues are crime and enslavement. The citizens of that society are working hard and are receiving little to no pay. The damage that the Khmer Rouge has done to Cambodia has left the people emotionally and physically scarred. In Mam’s book she talks a lot about the effects that the Khmer Rouge had on the people and her country. Her words painted a picture for her readers showing the way people acted towards one another due to the Khmer Rouge. For example, she states, “It was important not to see, not to hear, not to know anything about what was happening” (Mam 14). Mam...

... middle of paper ...

...the Khmer Rouge.” Time World, 17 February 2009

Date Accessed: 25 January 2012

Mam, Somaly. The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine.

Ruth Marshall, Trans. New York: Spiegel& Grau, 2008.

Pearl, Mariane. “Global Diary: Cambodia.” Glamour Magazine, 1 August 2006.

Date Accessed: 25 January 2012

cambodia#ixzz1kXXN4LqD>

Spencer, Channing. “Modern-Day Slavery in America: Sex Trafficking and Labor

Exploitation.” Perspective Magazine, Harvard’s Liberal Monthly, 30 March 2010.

< http://www.perspy.com/?p=571>

Weinstein, David, "Herbert Spencer", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

(Summer 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) Date Accessed: 25 January 2012

.

Show More
Related

  • Holocaust vs. Cambodian Genocide

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    "Cambodian Genocide." World without Genocide. William Mitchell College of Law, 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • How Did Pol Pot Impact Cambodia

    517 Words  | 2 Pages

    “The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s Regime”. Mtholyoke.edu. 11 May 2005. Web. 7 May 2014.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Luong Ung's First They Killed My Father

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    Daniel Goldhagen (2009) states that in less than four years, Cambodia’s political leaders induced their followers to turn Cambodia’s backwards and regressing society into a massive concentration camp in which they steadily killed victims. Furthermore, a deeper understanding of the Cambodian genocide is provided within Luong Ung’s personal narrative, “First They Killed My Father” (2000). Ung’s memoir is a riveting account of the Cambodian genocide, which provides readers with a personalized account of her family’s experience during the genocide. She informs readers of the causes of the Cambodian genocide and she specifies the various eliminationist techniques used to produce the ideological Khmer vision. Nonetheless, she falls short because

    Read More

  • The Pros And Consequences Of Human Trafficking

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    As victim count continues to rise, its difficult to see how such great numbers of men, women and children are bought and sold every year. Trafficking can be found in many forms, including: prostitution, slavery, or forced labor (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that international human trafficking became globally noticed. With the lack of government intervention and control in several nations, and the free trade market, slavery once again became a profitable industry (Harf and Lombardi, 2014). As previously mentioned, easier movement across nations borders is one of the outcomes of globalization. It is also what makes human trafficking so easy today. It is estimated that about 20.9 million people are victims across the entire globe (United Nations Publications, 2012); trafficking accounts for 32 billion dollars in generated profit globally (Brewer, n.d). 58 percent of all human trafficking was for the purpose of sexual exploitation, and of this 55-60 percent are women (United Nations Publications,

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery that Poses a National and International Security Risk

    1974 Words  | 4 Pages

    Raymond, Janice G. “The Ongoing Tragedy of International Slavery and Human Trafficking: An Overview.” Serial No. 108–137. 29 October 2003.

    Read More

  • The Cambodian Genocide and the Holocaust

    944 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walker, Luke. "Cambodian Genocide." World Without Genocide. William Mitchell College of Law, 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • What are the Causes of Inequality?

    2446 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the nation’s 2000-year history, Cambodia, a developing Southeast Asian country located on the Indochina Peninsula, has experienced a number of glories and tragedies; as a matter of fact, it was until 1993 that the democratic election, supported by the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), were conducted to restore peace in Cambodia under a coalition government (CIA World Factbook, 2013). In order to transform from the negative peace which is just the absent of direct violence to the positive peace meaning the absent of cultural and structural violence, Cambodia, the younger member of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has been trying as hard as possible to address the problem of inequality with the obvious hope that if inequality is not natural, according to Hobbes, but rather constructed, there are probably chances to level down its impacts or even demolish its existence.

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking in the United States

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kara, Siddharth. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. 5. Print.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of Human Trafficking By Noy Thrupkaew

    861 Words  | 2 Pages

    Human trafficking is the act of coercing someone into working against his or her will. Anyone can be a victim, especially young girls who are vulnerable to the captor’s lies. Victims have been found anywhere from driving ice cream trucks to touring boys’ choir. In her talk, Noy Thrupkaew shares several examples about how people are deceived and coerced into coming to the United States and being forced to work for someone else. She focuses on how close to home human trafficking really is and how the victims don’t necessarily need saving but solidarity. In Noy Thrupkaew’s speech about human trafficking, she not only shares her own story but also the different situations regarding how the crime functions. Because the speaker

    Read More

  • The Holocaust and the Cambodian Genocide: Similar or different? How about Both?

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    Walker, Luke. "Cambodian Genocide." World Without Genocide. William Mitchell College of Law, 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014. .

    Read More

  • The Cambodian Genocide

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Cambodian Genocide has the historical context of the Vietnam War and the country’s own civil war. During the Vietnam War, leading up to the conflicts that would contribute to the genocide, Cambodia was used as a U.S. battleground for the Vietnam War. Cambodia would become a battle ground for American troops fighting in Vietnam for four years; the war would kill up to 750,00 Cambodians through U.S. efforts to destroy suspected North Vietnamese supply lines. This devastation would take its toll on the Cambodian peoples’ morale and would later help to contribute that conflicts that caused the Cambodian genocide. In the 1970’s the Khmer rouge guerilla movement would form. The leader of the Khmer rouge, Pol Pot was educated in France and believed in Maoist Communism. These communist ideas would become important foundations for the ideas of the genocide, and which groups would be persecuted. The genocide it’s self, would be based on Pol Pot’s ideas to bring Cambodia back to an agrarian society, starting at the year zero. His main goal was to achieve this, romanticized idea of old Cambodia, based on the ancient Cambodian ruins, with all citizens having agrarian farming lives, and being equal to each other. Due to him wanting society to be equal, and agrarian based, the victims would be those that were educated, intellectuals, professionals, and minority ethnic g...

    Read More

  • Similarities and Differences in Ancient and Modern Slavery

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Modern Slavery, Dalton explained how women and children were forced into slavery by using Terrance Yarbrough’s crime as an example. Dalton wrote “Victims testified to being beaten by Yarbrough with padlocks, crowbars and dog chains, and being burned with irons and scalding hot water in order to force the woman into prostitution.” (Daltn, 13) The women who were abducted by Yarbrough include young girls as young as only fifteen years old. Human trafficking victims were not born into slavery like most natural slaves. Human trafficking victims were forced into prostitution by the abductor. Like Aristotle’s idea of free men are not suitable of slave world and should be useful from community life, human trafficking victims were...

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking Argumentative Essay

    1385 Words  | 3 Pages

    In today’s era of technological advancement and scientific discovery, Man’s greed for power and fame has grown exponentially. We live in a world where we have accepted man’s absolute control over each and everything. The unjustified trade and enslavement of human beings in the current age represents a fallen civilisation. A civilisation that is advanced in technology and science, but backward in ethical values. So much so that personal greed comes before the value of a person’s life. Human trafficking is one of the most significant problems faced by the world today. It portrays a picture of inequality among equals with no regard for the right of every individual. Human trafficking is basically the use of human deception to exploit the vulnerable and the needy. According to Koettl (2009), “Human trafficking, as it is defined by international law, subsumes all forms of non-consensual

    Read More

  • Pol Pot, The Khmer Rouge, and Cambodian Genocide

    1133 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marks, Stephen P. "Elusive Justice For The Victims Of The Khmer Rouge." Journal Of International Affairs 52.2 (1999): 691. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 19 Dec. 2011. .

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking

    1522 Words  | 4 Pages

    Human trafficking, or the selling and buying of people, is a well-hidden yet prominent issue within today’s society. It is both an immoral and horrific topic that needs brought to attention and dealt with. When human beings are manipulated into work, sexual servitude, or economic hardship, human trafficking is occurring. In the year of 2006, only one individual is convicted of human trafficking per 800 victims (UNGIFT). By looking at straight statistics, reasons human trafficking happens, and the toll it has on people, it is very clear that this is a major issue that is happening in our world.

    Read More

More about Survival of the Fittest: Exploitation of Cambodia Under the Khmer Rouge

Open Document