Genocide

Human nature: Who participates in genocide, and why? What does the commonality of genocide lead you to believe about humanity?

A genocide is defined as a systematic killing of a racial or cultural group. Those who participate in such an act are undoubtedly considered evil. Now, participation in this requires two separate parts, the thinking/planning, and the physical part.

The brains of the operation plan to commit such an act because they believe that the extermination of another group of people would benefit the world. They don't see that group as humans, in fact they probably hate the selected group with a deep passion. In order to plan to commit a mass murdering, it requires a lot of intellect, that of a military general or along those lines. Not only does the person have to plot out ever single detail of the plan, such as movement and possible rebellion, I believe the hardest part would be gaining enough followers to act out the plan. This is truly a difficult task to accomplish because there would have to be a massive amount of followers in order to act this out. The genius of the leader shows during this stage when they brainwash others into believing in such a horrific set of ideas.

Now, for the people who follow the leader, they could arguably be just as evil as the one planning it. Not only will they commit cold-blooded murders, claiming numerous innocent lives, but the fact that they don't believe that they are committing some sort of crime is the real horrendous part. I can't grasp the concept of how they would begin to believe that killing other human beings in such a way would be considered "normal".

This sort of behavior can be compared with that of stepping on an ant. For example, if you are walking outside and you noticed the fact that you have squished an ant, chances are you wouldn't feel emotional pain or remorse about it. You would just move on with your life, as if nothing happened. This is because of the fact that you don't see yourself on the same level as an ant. Now for the ones who physically commit genocide, they see the targeted group of humans as the ant, nothing more and maybe even less.

For example, Hitler thought himself and the Aryans as superior to all other races and hence felt it was their right to commit such atrocities. He convinced the rest of Germany that the Jews were evil, lazy, etc., which made it easier to pave the way for the Holocaust.

This commonality of genocide leads me to believe that us as human beings are naturally violent. Countless innocent lives have been claimed due to wars. I also believe that today's society has actually encouraged or increased classification amongst humans. There's all different types of classifications everywhere you look and it begins at an early age.  

Also, the general society lacks diversity, something that could help prevent genocide from happening. Any society is capable of committing genocide and that is why education in other cultures should be essential. Instead of leading people to believe in negative stereotypes and common myths about a certain group, they can become educated instead and have more of an insight on that particular group instead of just jumping into conclusions.

I do give the general population credit because among most people there is a great reluctance to commit atrocities; atrocities that contradict values taught from family, religion, and perhaps even instinct. Nevertheless, most people can be conditioned in such a way that, under certain circumstances, the perpetration of extreme violence becomes possible. For example, the Iraq war. Simply because the United States is at war with them currently, it automatically gives the people a reason to view Middle Easterners as 'the enemy'. Another thought, one reason it would become easier for people to commit genocide is physical distance. With the development of better technology and weaponry there is no longer a need for face to face combat. For example, the atom bombs dropped in Japan were a lot easier to issue compared to ordering troops to go over and kill them. 

In conclusion, genocide is not something that occurs instantly, but rather the cause of genocide can be found in leaders who manipulate key factors in order to create the requisite and social conditions for such mass killings.