Why did the Khmer Rouge ban laughter?
I've read that the Khmer Rouge banned laughter and I would like to know if anyone knows the reasoning behind that decision?
If what you read is true, and there is no guarantee it is, then it is an indication of what has already become known - the Khmer Rouge combined astonishing brutality with astonishing stupidity. Stupidity because societies cease to function when they reach a certain level of severity. There are limits to human endurance - there is a limit to how many "enemies of the state" one can kill before the entire population understands that everyone is at risk. Fear becomes manifest and paralyses the body and the spirit.
The Unique Revolution - www.mekong.net
Akin to banning laughter is the social control of people in other ways. You may recall that certain governments and/or religious organizations have at one time or another banned dancing, too.
The Unique Revolution - www.mekong.net
Akin to banning laughter is the social control of people in other ways. You may recall that certain governments and/or religious organizations have at one time or another banned dancing, too.
Modern research has located thousands of mass graves from the Khmer Rouge era all over Cambodia, containing an estimated 1.39 million bodies. Various studies have estimated the death toll at between 740,000 and 3,000,000, most commonly between 1.4 million and 2.2 million, with perhaps half of those deaths being due to executions, and the rest from starvation and disease.
The United States Department of State-funded Yale Cambodian Genocide Project gives estimates of the total death toll between 1.2 million and 1.7 million. Amnesty International estimates the total death toll as 1.4 million. R. J. Rummel, an analyst of historical political killings, gives a figure of 2 million. Former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot gave a figure of 800,000, and his deputy, Khieu Samphan, said 1 million had been killed.
Killings at these numbers are pretty serious business. So other reasons notwithstanding, these bastards had to ban laughter. A sick psyopathic mind cannot tolerate mirth and happiness.
The United States Department of State-funded Yale Cambodian Genocide Project gives estimates of the total death toll between 1.2 million and 1.7 million. Amnesty International estimates the total death toll as 1.4 million. R. J. Rummel, an analyst of historical political killings, gives a figure of 2 million. Former Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot gave a figure of 800,000, and his deputy, Khieu Samphan, said 1 million had been killed.
Killings at these numbers are pretty serious business. So other reasons notwithstanding, these bastards had to ban laughter. A sick psyopathic mind cannot tolerate mirth and happiness.