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The consequences of genocide on the general negative impact
Essay of impact of genocide
Essay of impact of genocide
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A genocide can be classified as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a specific ethnic race or or group. All genocides start with certain beliefs. These beliefs grows as they spread to large groups of people. If taken too far these beliefs can negatively impact the lives of many as well as all the future generations to come. When one thinks of genocide they usually only think of the suffering inflicted on the different ethnic groups as well as the devastating losses that ensue. Most do not consider the effects of genocide on countries and people after it happens. Genocide not only impacts the group of people who are persecuted but also the generations of people who come later. The Cambodian Genocide was one …show more content…
of the most deadly genocides documented in history. Cambodians were forced to evacuate their homes and move into small villages and work camps. There, they were forced to endure long work hours in the rice fields and communal gardens with very little food. Within the 4,000,000 people that died, for various reasons, throughout the years 1970-1980 about 2,400,000 were killed by the Communist Khmer Rouge regime. Many others died of starvation and disease. Many reports and first hand accounts depict the physical and mental agonies of innocent Cambodians all throughout the country but fail to cover the repercussions of the genocide on current day Cambodia and it’s people. One of the major impacts of the Cambodian genocide is the population. As previously mentioned over 4,000,000 Cambodians died throughout the years 1970-1980. Because of all the young people who died or were killed there has been a dramatic increase in the number of homeless elderly Khmer people living in Cambodia. In Cambodia the caretakers and providers for the elderly are the children of the elderly. During the Cambodian Genocide many people of the younger generations were killed by the Khmer Rouge troops or died from starvation/disease. Without a majority of the younger generation, the elderly who survived the Cambodian Genocide no longer have family to take care of them. This means that they have to live on the streets of Cambodia with very little money and no shelter. Another major impact of the Cambodian genocide is the economy.
The Cambodian genocide left an economic imbalance in the Cambodian society. Since Pol Pot wanted to return Cambodia to an agrarian society, free of Western influence, he killed many intellectual people (i.e. doctors, monks, students, ex-government officials, ex-military officials, professors, lawyers, etc) This created an imbalance in the society. Currently, there more uneducated farmers in Cambodia than intellectual people. The imbalance makes it very difficult for the Cambodian economy to create jobs that apply to the majority of Cambodians (i.e. the demographic …show more content…
imbalance). Another negative effect of the Cambodian genocide is the infrastructure. Infrastructure (i.e. roads, pathways, highways) has poorly developed. Since Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge Regime focused on returning Cambodia to an agrarian society with no Western influence they did not see the importance in building roads that connected villages and cities (i.e. they did not promote urban life). Now Cambodians do not prioritize the need for well built roads (i.e. they save the funds needed to build new roads), which at the moment are gravel/dirt paths. The roads and highways are poorly constructed and eventually will not work efficiently with vehicle transportation constantly increasing. The shoddily build roads also affect transportation for all Cambodians. Cambodian roads make commutes for workers long, expensive, and dangerous and create and inefficient distribution of foods and goods throughout Cambodia. Another lingering effect of the Khmer Rouge rule is the Cambodian monetary system. During the years that Pol Pot was in power he banned the use of money. Throughout the years 1975 to 1980 Cambodian currency had no value in society. After Pol Pot lost control over Cambodia, currency was brought back (i.e. in 1980). Since there was no valuable commodity (i.e. precious metals-gold and silver) to back up the Cambodian currency, inflation took place. In Cambodian the main type of currency was called a riel. Currently 1 riel is worth .00024 U.S. dollars. Right after the Cambodian genocide (i.e. 1979) the government created the 6th issue of the riel, in units of .1 riel, .2 riel, .5 riel, 1 riel, 5 riel, 10 riel, 20 riel, and 50 riel. Throught the years 2001-2008 the 12th issue of the riel was in use, in units of 50 riel, 100 riel, 500 riel, 1,000 riel, 2,000 riel, 5,000 riel, 10,000 riel, 20,000 riel, and 50,000 riel. These statistic show the atht inflation rate skyrocketed from the end of the Cambodian genocide to currently. In order to combat the inflation rates the United Nations supplied the Cambodian economy with U.S. dollars (i.e. In 1993). Because of the financial support given to the Cambodian economy in the form of U.S. dollars the main form of currency at this time is the US dollar. Now the riel is only really used for change. The insufficient self run Cambodian economy is a direct effect of the Cambodian genocide and Pol Pot’s rule. The Cambodian genocide also severely affected the Cambodians, culturally.
During the Cambodian genocide Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge targeted intellectuals such as musicians and artists. With a majority of these people executed Cambodia lost a lot of its traditions and cultural history (i.e. traditional songs, dances, musical instruments, paintings, and legends/myths (i.e. storytelling)). Oral tradition was also lost because it was never written down and there were no performers to pass the stories down to each generation. Overall, very little cultural tradition survived the Cambodian genocide, as the Khmer Rouge burned thousand of books (i.e. demonstrating they were against
intellectualism). The Khmer Rouge also wiped out many ethnic minorities, contributing to the lack of diversity within Cambodia. Pol Pot’s goal was to recreate the Angkor Empire that once reigned over Southeast Asia. He killed off many people part of different ethnic minorities to create a more “pure” Cambodian race, which was believed to be the Khmer people. The Khmer people were considered to be direct descendants from the Angkor empire. As of today, the Khmer race makes of 90% of the population of Cambodia. The Vietnamese make up about 5% of the population and the Chinese make up 1%. The remaining 4% percent accounts for the other Cambodian ethnic minorities. Because of Pol Pot’s beliefs Cambodia is the least ethnically diverse country in all of Southeast Asia. Even today many of the people apart of ethnic minorities (i.e. Muslim Chams) are considered, by the majority race as not equal or less than. Theses ethnic minorities are subjected to discrimination and social isolation in this current age. Because the people of ethnic minorities are considered not equal, by the Khmer people, they have a harder time finding jobs and a lower chance of economic prosperity. This makes it very hard for the people apart of ethnic minorities, in Cambodia, to break out of the constant cycle of poverty. Even though Cambodia and its people suffered greatly from the rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge they are slowly improving. Now more and more citizens are able to leave their villages and go to the city for work. There is also a free public education system, as well as a growth in tourism, which helps the economy. The rule of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge does not go unrecognized. As a whole, the people of Cambodia acknowledge the Cambodian genocide and make it a point to educate their people on what actually happened. Even though Cambodia and its people suffered devastating losses during the Cambodian genocide, they have been able to overcome their harsh past and make advances for the future.
Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot-the leader of the Khmer Rouge followed Maoist communism, which they thought they could create an agrarian utopia. Agrarian means that the society was based on agriculture. They wanted all members of society to be rural agricultural workers and killed intellectuals, who had been depraved by western capitalist ideas. A utopia means a perfect society. This idea went to extremes when The Khmer Rouge resumed that only pure people were qualified to build the revolution. They killed Cambodians without reasons by uncivilized actions such as: cutting heads, burying alive… There were about 1.7 million people killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Although the two genocides are quite different at a first glance, they are interestingly similar upon deeper inspection. For starters, the Holocaust is best known for it’s brutal and inhumane treatment of prisoners, such as tattooing a number on their arm against their will and feeding them food that is not even fit for dogs to consume (“Holocaust”). It may be shocking for some people to hear that in Cambodia, it was just as atrocious, maybe even worse. During the Khmer Rouge takeover in 1975 most Cambodians were forced to leave their homes on such short notice that numerous families were killed on cite for not evacuating quickly enough. Those ‘lucky’ enough to escape immediate death were forced to work, unpaid, in labor camps until the fatigue wore down their immune system and they died of some wretched disease (“Genocide”). Another intriguing similarity betw...
Genocide is the act of killing a lot of people depending on their race, ethnicity, and religion. There are 8 stages of genocide which include extermination and denial. The victims of the Bosnian genocide consists of elders, women, men, children, and even babies. The Bosnian genocide is a war between Bosnian Serbians and Bosnian Muslim to which republic can control Bosnia. Many Serbains deny the fact that his genocide even happened even though there is scientific proof that this genocide happened. The purpose of learning genocide is so we are informed and we won't let it happen again.
The word “genocide” is a general term. It is vague and could be used to group together and refer to a number of very unique events in history. Defined as the systematic murder of a specific group of people, genocides have occurred since ancient times. America’s most famous genocide, and the longest genocide in history, was the Native American Genocide. Considered to have begun the day the Mayflower hit the shore of Massachusetts, and ended in 1924 when the Indian Citizenship Act was past, the Native American Genocide lasted for over four centuries. In the 15th century, over 10 million Native Americans lived on the land that is part of the modern day United States. By 1900, that number was a mere 300,000. Most Americans, however, hardly know
“The Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot’s Regime”. Mtholyoke.edu. 11 May 2005. Web. 7 May 2014.
Ung (2000) mentions that the Cambodian genocide is a product of a perfect agrarian vision that can be built by eliminating Western influence. More specifically, the Angkar perceives peasants and farmers as “model citizens” because many have not left the village and were not subjected to Western influence (Ung 2000:57). Moreover, the Khmer Rouge emphasized the ethnic cleansing of individuals from other races who were not considered “true Khmer” and represented a “source of evil, corruption, [and] poison” (Ung 2000:92). Lastly, the ideology centered on obtaining lost territory was based on a “time when Kampuchea was a large empire with territories” (Ung 2000:78). In essence, Ung successfully demonstrates that multiple causes encouraged the Cambodian
Some Cambodians were shot. Others were hit over the head with hammers. Some Cambodians were executed by having their heads and other body parts cut off. At the end of the Cambodian Genocide (i.e. 1975-1979) over 2,400,000 innocent people were killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Most people in the world have not heard of the genocide going on in Laos today. Most people have not taken notice, read about it or bother to spend more than thirty seconds of their lives learning about it. The world has managed to almost entirely ignore the genocide of the Hmong people in Laos for over 30 years and still allows this crime against humanity to continue. Since the 1970s, the ethnic Hmong people in the Southeast Asian country of Laos have been persecuted by the Laotian government (Malakunas, 2000). This harassment is a direct result of the Hmong’s link to the Central Intelligence Agency in the United States in what has become to be known as the Secret War (Malakunas, 2000). The Laotian government officials directing this massacre have not been detained due to lack of evidence (Sommer P.4).
...rible for all of Cambodia. Things that happened in the Khmer Rouge years are still around today. In Cambodia it is common for when parents grow of old age and are unable to take care of themselves, their children will take care of them. Since so many people were killed in the Khmer Rouge, those of the elderly that lived most likely no longer have children to take care of them. Another lasting effect of the Pol Pot regime, is the fact that Pol Pot killed anyone who was educated. He killed the educated people because he was worried that they would threaten his power. So Cambodia will now be struggling on educating the Cambodian people. Pol. Pot also wiped out a lot of ethnicity in Cambodia. An author at Regional Geography writes "Cambodia is the least ethnically diverse country in Southeast Asia because of Pol Pot." Cambodia is improving more and more day by day.
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. .
Pol Pot believed that Cambodia could be a great country without the helps from the United States. After a long and hard series of thoughts and arguments, he decided to kill people that lived in farms or places that were far away from Phnom Penh. But it is incorrect to say that Pol Pot started the genocide because hundreds and thousands of Cambodians were captured and arrested by GR UNK. It started at 1966, when Lon Nol believed that people who disagree with their idea should be executed. “Right here in Amsterdam everyday hundreds of Jews disappear”(“The Diary Of Anne Frank” play, collections book. Page 306) The genocide caused by the Khmer Rouge is still recorded as one of the most deadliest genocide in
Pol Pot shut the country off from all outside influences such as newspapers, radio, television, mail, and even money. This was Pol Pot’s attempt to go back in time and have a higher control over the people. Human rights were revoked, no more free speech, religion was forbidden when 90 percent of the people were Buddhists. There was no traveling was permitted and the whole community was put on schedules and have strict rules. People who broke even the smallest rule were killed. People who were inhabitants were forced out of the cities by the Khmer Rouge army. Two million people had to leave Phnom Penh and travel to the countryside to be under complete Pol Pot control. Approximately twenty thousand died while traveling to the countryside. The individuals, who admitte...
The Cambodian Genocide started because the Khmer Rouge wanted to create a pure Communist society in Cambodia. In order to do this, they decided to deconstruct the entire country back to its peasant beginnings and eliminate anyone who was above the status of a peasant or was not Cambodian. The Khmer Rouge’s dream of perfect communism ultimately failed, however, because it was impossible for a society to succeed with only one profession. Even rural peasants needed doctors an...
The Cambodian Genocide was a trial and error of someone trying to make all people equal. Khmer Rouge had approximately 1.7 million people executed attempting to equal everyone out and make the world a “better” place. Although he tried very hard at this, he of course failed and and all of his attempts were, in the end pointless.
Cambodia has come a long way from its days under French rule and the disastrous rule of the Khmer Rouge. With 14.9 million people living a relativity peaceful and prosperous life, Cambodia still has a long ways to go to join the ranks of world powers. Education has flourished in Cambodia with most its population attending school and have gone on to even higher education. The main goal is to make sure all of its population is literate so they can be active in life. The government is taking an active role to provide the best for its people whether through reform whether through education or elections. It makes sure to never repeat it’s dark past and always have a bright future.