It recently came to my attention that there are intelligent 20-somethings, sporting educations from respected universities, who don’t know who Pol Pot was. This reflects little discredit on them — after all, it’s not your fault if you’ve never been told — but it really ought to be remedied.
Pol Pot was the dictator of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979, in which time he managed to slaughter around 2 million (or 20%) of his own people. His methods were as unpleasant as you might imagine.
Pol Pot was a Marxist and ally of the People’s Republic of China. A man of the left. While it is indisputable that the vast majority of leftists would disapprove of Pol Pot, it should never be forgotten that leftist ideals and policies can culminate in atrocities such as those visited upon the Cambodians.
