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Genocide
A Pathology of the Modern World
Collective acts of extreme violence, like genocide, cannot be
implemented exclusively by ultra-violent individuals. For one
thing, such individuals are rare and secondly they would have
to gain control of complex social organisations, which is
something they simply cannot achieve on their own.
In the case of genocide - the attempted elimination of a whole
group - the operation is so complex that it cannot take place
without the support of consenting masses and efficient
institutions, manipulated by a few extremists. This explains why
genocide is a modern affliction: it could not have existed before
Towards Genocide
What marks the progression towards genocide? It is a process
which takes place over a long period of time and consists in a
series of incontrovertible stages, as detailed below.
1. Social brutalisation. At this stage a crisis-ridden society is
confronted with a multitude of economic, political and
ideological difficulties which create extreme social tensions,
making individuals more tolerant of acts of brutality.
2. Dictatorship. Social brutalisation leads to an
between extremists, whose violence is presented as a
to problems, and the masses who accept them in the
restoring cohesion. Once in power, the extremists
dictatorship.
alliance
solution
hope of
impose
Social Disintegration
Once genocide is underway, the self-destructive nature of
extreme violence comes into play. The opportunistic alliance
between extremists and ordinary people rapidly falls apart once
the masses realise that violence is being used by the fanatics in
power to divert attention from the problems they face. The
social dynamics peters out, taking with it the whole structure of
society, because by then the rules of group living have been
fundamentally perverted, as could be observed in Germany at
the end of the Second World War.
A Long Process
Having analysed the dual aspects - paranoid and megalomaniac
of the Rwandan genocide, we also examined its hierarchy:
extremists in positions of power vindicated the use of genocidal
Social Brutalisation
The end of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th
century witnessed the disintegration of Rwanda's multi-layered
social organisation, caused by the political manipulations of
colonisers eager to increase their hold on power. The first signs
of collusion between extremists and local population appeared
at the end of the 1950s when collective violence killed 300
people in 1959. Against this background of social brutalisation,
an aggressive dictatorship replaced the colonial administration
after Rwanda's independence, gained in 1962.
Dictatorship
Once in power, the extremists used their dominant position to
oust their ideological victims from important jobs. Under a
totalitarian system, tension was running high and outbreaks of
violence were frequent, in spite of the authorities' efforts to
gain respectability through the support of many international
donors.
Trigger Event
The dictatorship, which was established after Rwanda's
independence, collapsed at the end of the 1980's as a result of
an unprecedented crisis: the price of coffee plummeted (all
sales profits went to the elites); donor states were calling for
greater political openness following the fall of the Berlin Wall;
and the Rwandan RPF group staged a military attack from its
Trigger Event
Following the short-lived early military successes in the Second
World War, the dictatorship established by Hitler and his
cronies was open to all kinds of excesses, culminating in
genocidal violence. The trigger event was the first military
setbacks during the Russian campaign in the summer of 1941
a decisive moment when Nazi extremists felt their power
threatened and tried to revive the regime by using extreme
violence.
Genocide in Cambodia
During the 20th century, Cambodia followed a path similar to
Nazi Germany and Rwanda towards genocide. The Khmer
Rouge, a group of extremist ideologists, came to power in 1975
in the wake of brutalisation caused by French colonisation
(1864-1953) and by Cold War conflicts (Cambodia, which
shares a border with Vietnam, was heavily bombed by the
Americans between 1969 and 1973). These events were
combined with two postcolonial dictatorships, first under Prince
Sianouk (1953-1970), then under Lon Nol (1970-1975).
Once in control of the country, the Khmer Rouge and their
leader Pol Pot, with the support of the Cambodian population,
orchestrated acts of violence that turned to genocide in 1978
when the more extremist elements, undermined by internal
dissent and weakened by severe military setbacks in the war
against Vietnam, realised they were losing their grip on power.
The Khmer Rouge's genocidal, collectivist and racist utopia was
directed against class enemies as well as against traitors
with a Vietnamese mind inside a Khmer body (that is to say,
anyone connected in any way with Vietnam); it became their
ultimate weapon in attempting to re-energise a faltering
regime. The genocide ended in early 1979 with the Khmer's
defeat at the hands of Vietnamese troops.
Not before 20 percent of the national population had been
murdered.
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Stalinism
The political community sets up structures that need to be
permanently updated to ensure they function well enough
and maintain social stability. If the process fails, the
enlightened members of society will revolt. Once the crisis is
over and the changes integrated in the political institutions
(radically modified by revolutions), rebellion ceases, only to
resume when social progress demands it.
At this juncture, we can identify two forms of political violence
supporting the dynamics of genocide: fascist nationalism and
revolutionary despotism. Fascist nationalism infiltrates political
communities and uses the existing structures to broaden its
social base. Conservative by nature, it does not threaten the
foundations of th society it is taking over. In contrast,
revolutionary despotism seeks to destroy the political
communities it infiltrates, claiming that nothing must stand in
the way of social progress. Stalin's daughter, Svetlana
Alliluyeva, wrote of her father:
He chose the way of a revolutionary because in him burned
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Submission
The authoritarian leader suffers from relatively minor
psychological disturbances (contrary to what has often been
claimed). This explains why he is capable of structuring his
symptoms into a coherent view of the world, unlike the contact
criminal (e.g. the serial killer) hampered by severe
psychological disorders.
Once his ideological framework is in place, the authoritarian
leader conveys it to a small circle of followers who associate
with him to gain collective benefits: thanks to the extremist
world view that brings them together, individuals who used to
be isolated, become part of a closely bonded group with clearly
set out theoretical foundations.
The bond established by the authoritarian leader with his
followers explains the strength of their relationship, sustained
by a rigid hierarchy. The dependency of the lower ranks is
total: each individual member knows that without guide the
group would fall apart, signifying for him a return to social
isolation. The extremists' servile submission to their leader
stands in stark contrast to the cruelty they are capable of in
dealing with their victims.
Hitlers God
At this stage one question arises: if the authoritarian leader's
followers accept total submission to him, what authority does
the leader himself refer to in his quest for allegiance? He
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Nazi Germany
The Fascist Consensus
Next, I am going to analyse the social hierarchy of fascism. This
will help us understand the process that leads a significant
proportion of a political community to succumb to the advances
of an authoritarian leader, even though they themselves do not
subscribe to his extremist ideology.
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fight for it; that instead of wanting freedom, they sought for
ways of escape from it.
The authoritarian leader becomes, in this process, the keystone
of a social movement, sole guarantor of the cohesion of a
group in crisis that hopes to suppress its anxieties once and for
all by renouncing its freedom.
However, the fascist consensus between the authoritarian
leader, using clever tactics to broaden his support base, and
the people is not destined to last.
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A Flood of Emotionalism
Eugen Kogon, who spent several years in detention in Nazi
camps, made the following distinction:
The men who volunteered for Hitler's elite guards were of a
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Justification
The anti-Semite uses justification, the first authoritarian denial
mechanism, to proclaim the benefits of his violence.
Justification inhibits any feelings of remorse. This first level of
distortion is also particularly apparent in sexual aggressors, who
justify their acts despite the obvious flaws in their ultra-sexist
reasoning.
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crime patterns, criminals are alike in one way: how they think.
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