Pol/ប៉ុល vs. Mao/毛

In Reading Philip Short's Pol Pot, he makes a distinction between the attitudes of the Chinese Communist Party and the Communist Party of Kampuchea. Having had the influence of Confucius who believed people were basically good, the Chinese believed in trying to reform people or giving them a second chance. In Kampuchea, the Pol Pot government was more influenced by Theravada Buddhism, a somewhat fatalistic religion with the belief that those who are bad are unredeemable.

Even though we are a capitalist society, it is odd that we keep leaning to the idea that people are unredeemable. More and more we here people say that small crimes, if not dealt with harshly, only lead to severe crimes. For example a petty thief will move up to murder and rape if not keep behind bars most of his life.

We have new laws against sex offenders. The restrictions are becoming so great, that some people are beginning to wonder where we will let these people live and where they will work? Also, while some of these people are quite vile, there may be some men who are 18 years old convicted of having sex with a 15 year old. Does it really make sense to lump them with 30 year old men that have sex with 9 year olds and have them carry that type of label the rest of their lives?

The drunk driving laws are stiffer every year. Now there is no way to expunge an earlier DUI charge, even if it is a minor one. It is a life long label.

This is probably the only country that will not allow a person to vote after a felony conviction, even after their time is served. This law actually violates a human rights agreement we signed years ago at the UN.

So the question I raise is --why are we following the examples of a person such as Pol Pot, when so many Americans have condemned him for his causal killing of people who made mistakes or broke minor laws?

Kansas, as with many states now has a carry and conceal law that allows a person who sees a robbery or crime in progress to act as judge, jury and executioner. Isn't this similar to what Pol Pot's cadre actually did? They were left on their own to dish out any punishment they felt fit a crime and that often met execution, even for minor theft.

A common argument for capitol punishment is that the criminal will never kill again. He also will not have a chance at rehabilitation.

I have a friend in prison who is a member of the Ohio 8. He told me the constantly cut back on educational opportunities for inmates and there seems to be a lot less emphasis on rehabilitation and more on punishment.

Another wise observation of Mao was:

"To sum up, we must learn to look at problems from all sides, seeing the reverse as well as the obverse side of things. In given conditions, a bad thing can lead to good results and a good thing to bad results. More than two thousand years ago Lao Tzu said: "Good fortune lieth within bad, bad fortune lurketh within good.''

So in America, we move closer and closer to a society which offers trouble makers no second chance for redemption. There is no longer the belief that people who have gone bad can be rehabilitated. Statistically crime has been going down, yet people, politicians and the news media continue to act as if it is still on the rise. This was pointed out in "Bowling for Columbine." Our politicians, pundits and many educators still call Mao one of the main mass murderers of the 20th century and yet even in his country, he believed in looking at the root causes of a disturbances and without looking at why people cause trouble. According to Short, in China they believed people could be rehabilitated.

In the US we are headed in a different direction. If anything, we are emulating Pol Pot who, along with his party, believed bad people were unredeemable. Some were unredeemable due to their background and upbringing. Is that the direction the US is headed? Will America's leaders be the next Pol Pot of the 21st Century?

Is this really what Americans want for their future?




Pol Pot --- the 20th Century authoritarian leader



George Bush --- the 21st Century authoritarian leader

International Women's Day

The Mother of our Revolution Ponnary






Women fought for the revolution so they could be free.



Women played an active part in running the party, fighting in the military and helped rebuild war-torn Kampuchea.

Democratic Kampuchea National Anthem

The bright red blood was spilled over the towns
And over the plain of Kampuchea, our motherland,
The blood of our good workers and farmers and of
Our revolutionary combatants, of both men and women.
Their blood produced a great anger and the courage
To contend with heroism. On the 17th of April,
Under the revolutionary banner, their blood freed
Us from the state of slavery.
Hurrah for the glorious 17th of April!
That wonderful victory had greater significance
Than the Angkor period!
We are uniting to construct a Kampuchea with a
New and better society, democratic, egalitarian
And just. We follow the road to a firmly-based
Independence. We absolutely guarantee to defend
Our motherland, our fine territory, our
Magnificent revolution!
Hurrah for the new Kampuchea, a splendid,
Democratic land of plenty! We guarantee to raise
Aloft and wave the red banner of the revolution.
We shall make our motherland prosperous beyond
All others, magnificent, wonderful!

ឈាមក្រហមច្រាល
ស្រោចសព៌ក្រុងវាល កម្ពុជាមាតុភូមិ
ឈាមកម្មករ កសិករដ៏ឧត្តម
ឈាមយុទ្ធជន យុទ្ធនារីបដិវត្តិ ។
ឈាមប្រែក្លាយជា កំហឹងខ្លាំងក្លា
តសូមោះមុត
ដប់ប្រាំពីរមេសា ក្រោមទង់បដិវត្តិ
ឈាមរំដោះ អំពីភាពខ្ញុំគេ ។
ជយោ ! ជយោ ! ដប់ប្រាំពីរមេសាជោគជ័យ !
មហាអស្ចារ្យមានន័យធំធេង
លើសសម័យអង្គរ !
យើងរួបរួមគ្នា
កសាងកម្ពុជានឹងសង្គមថ្មី
បវរប្រជាធិបពេយ្យ សមភាពនឹងយុតិធឞ៌
តាមាគ៌឵មច្឵ស់ការ ឯករាជ្យរឹងមាំ
ប្តេជ្ញាដាច់ខ឵ត ការពារមាតុភូមិ
ទឹកដីឧត្តម បដិវត្តដ៏រុងរឿង
ជយោ ! ជយោ ! ជយោ ! កម្ពុជាថ្មី
ប្រជាធិបពេយ្យ សំបូរថ្កុមថ្កើង
ប្តេជ្ញាជ្រោងគ្រវី ទង់បដិវត្តិក្រហមខ្ពស់ឡើង
សាងមាតុភូមិយើង អោយច្រើនផ្លោះ
មហារុងរឿង មហាអស្ចារ្យ !

Where Pol Pot got his name

Several people have wondered where Pol Pot got his name it was originally Saloth Sar, until shortly before the Communist Party of Kampuchea came to power in 1975.
According to From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:


Saloth Sar (May 19, 1925–April 16, 1998), better known as Pol Pot (short for Politique Potentielle, French for "potential politic"), was the ruler of the Khmer Rouge and the Prime Minister of Cambodia (officially Democratic Kampuchea during his rule) from 1976 to 1979, having been de facto leader since mid-1975.

WRONG - according to Philip Short, author of Pol Pot, The name was taken from a group of aborigine type people captured and enslaved by the Ancient Khmer Kings. Pol hated kings, so naming himself after the kings slaves made a lot of sense. His main enemy in life had always been the monarchy in Phnom Penh, which was dominated by Norodom Sihanouk. The name Pot came from an old Khmer tradition of people without a second name simply taking a one syllable name that sounded similar to the first name, for example, someone named Yen might add Yat and be known as Yen Yat.
The obvious clue that Wikipedia is wrong comes from the idea that Sar would take a French name, when his movement spoke and wrote only in Khmer and rejected all foreign influence including foreign languages.