Pol Pot

Pol Pot insane with power Pol Pot, the leader of the Red Khmer, ruled Cambodia from 1975 until 1979 and during that time he killed 1.7 million of his brothers and sisters by starvation, overwork and executions (CGP). Pol Pot wanted his idea of an utopia in Cambodia and he forced his ideas on his whole country and people. When I first heard about Pol Pot in high school, I could not believe that anybody would do this to their own people and country and wondered why Pol Pot would do this to his people and country. Pol Pot has to be the worst dictator in history because, he forced everyone to farm the land, he closed all the schools, universities, temples, and he forced his idea of a utopia on his whole country. When Pol Pot came into power he forced everyone to the countryside to farm the land. Pol Pot did away with currency was not paying any of these people to farm the land and he was forcing them to live fifteen to twenty-five people to a shack. Pol Pot wanted to produce three tons of rice per hectare or 10,000 square feet. He was going to use the money from the sale of the goods to finance light industry, and eventually heavy industry to make more money (Chandler 121). Pol Pot and his colleague had never farm before and did not know that the most that could be produce was a little less than one ton per hectare, so millions of people was starving, dying, and slaving and they were not even getting half way to their goal of three tons per hectare. Comparing what Pol Pot did to the book Anthem, this was worse because at least the Council gave people different jobs like scholar, doctor, street sweeper. Pol Pot wanted everyone to produce rice so he could get make money, but Pol Pot and the Council did not pay the people for doing their jobs. I think this is wrong because a person should be able to choose what, when, and where to work. I think if a person wants to be a doctor and is qualified to do the job then he or she should be a doctor and earning a living.

Cited: Ball, Howard. War crimes and justice: a reference hand book. 2002. Print. “ CGP,1994-2011." Cambodia Genocide Program. Yale University, 2011. Web. 12 Jul 2011 Chandler, David. Brother Number One. 1st. Boulder 1992. 1-243. Print. Kiernan, Ben. The Pol Pot Regime. third. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008. Print. Rand, Ayn. Anthem . 1250. 2008. Print.