An Unfortunate Genocide

In history, humans have experienced several episodes of genocides. Genocides have been one of the worst experiences for humans. Genocides have devastated humans mentally and physically. An example of genocide that devastated lives of millions of people was the Great Leap Forward in China. The Great Leap Forward and Wiesel’s experience in the Night have several similarities and differences. After analyzing the Great Leap Forward, it can be inferred that similar episodes can be prevented in future. The prevention of future episodes similar to the Great Leap Forward can be implemented by setting up a strong system of checks and balances that gives limited authority to all government personnel.

I. Causes

The Great Leap Forward was the result of Mao Zedong’s greed and arrogance. Mao wanted to become the Third World leader by surpassing the Soviet Union’s leader, Nikita Khrushchev (Chong 1016). The communal dining hall system, false grain production reports, bad weather, and backyard furnaces were preventable causes of the Great Leap Forward, but due to Mao’s ignorance, they intensified the suffering. The most lethal cause of the Great Leap Forward was the communal dining hall system. In this system, all peasants were allowed to eat as much food they wanted without any restrictions, which caused unequal distribution of food among people (Luo 2). Additionally, China was so involved in producing metals that it decreased the area of agricultural lands to build backyard furnaces, which caused low grain production (Luo 1). To synergize the situation, drought affected agriculture and caused the collapse of grain production. After all these events, the government still kept its people under false assumption that they have enough food for every...

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... ragged clothes (Wiesel 34). The similarities and differences emphasize how governments can still control people and disregard basic human rights at an adequate level. It also shows the extreme measures governments will take to ensure their will’s imposed.

To prevent future genocides, people should create a strong checks and balances system. This system should be implemented at local, state, and national levels. At all levels of government, officials need to make sure that they balance and avoid misuse of power. Government officials should create complaint boxes where citizens can write their concerns about officials they think are taking advantage of power. Through this tool, government officials will be able to implement the checks and balances system more efficiently. If the plan is implemented, then there will be no or minimal genocides in the future.