Fear Breeds Hate Breeds Terror

History has a way of repeating itself. People just either don’t learn or don’t want to learn, or simply don’t care unless it is something that affects them directly. But even so, sometimes based on other contributing factors, a person has been so deeply affected that it becomes a vicious cycle he or she just simply cannot get out of no matter how much they try.

The recent events happening in the U.S. under Trump’s administration, as well as horrific hate and terror-related crimes and the current overall state of the world should make people give pause and reflect on how these types of things are still happening time and time again.

Sure, people have been vocal about their concerns, through such things as protests. That’s nothing new. However, despite such efforts in the form of protests (peaceful or violent), campaigning to raise awareness, or even war; it never seems enough. What do we as a HUMAN race need to do differently?

My recent visit to Phnom Penh, Cambodia is the latest thing that has caused me to pause and reflect on such matters. While there, I visited the Killing Fields of Choeung Ek, as well as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (also known as S21). These two places document the horrific events that took place during the infamous Khmer Rouge under the reign of Pol Pot.

Being someone who grew up in America, I remember learning about Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in World History. However, reading about the events that the people of Cambodia (formerly Kampuchea) experienced in a mere few paragraphs or pages of your textbook hardly gives you an idea or even understanding of the abhorrent nightmare that they, and those unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, had endured.

At the Genocide Museum, you read about how we, as a race, have not yet learned from the Holocaust, where some six million European Jews were killed by Hitler’s Nazi over 70 years ago; all over a period of more than twelve years.

The Khmer Rouge took place a mere forty-two years ago, lasted nearly four years, and ended in January of 1979 – the same year that I was born. This very fact kind of struck home to me. Another fact that hits me close is that I am Thai. Having been born in Cambodia’s neighboring country the same year the Khmer Rouge came to an end is yet another reminder as to how lucky I have been. Had the stars aligned just slightly differently, I could have been one of the ones not so fortunate.

Now let’s go back to focus on what’s happening in the U.S. Have we not yet learned from the Holocaust and the Khmer Rouge that fear only breeds hate and that hate breeds separation, which eventually breeds crime? In such circumstances where the fear or hate is so great, it leads to murder – the execution of a life. The difference between what is currently happening and the events of the past is that we are openly showing the world our fears and hatred for those who think differently from us. We have put ourselves on the world’s stage as we fight each other over these said fears. What exactly are we trying to prove other than portraying that we are not as strong a united states of America as we have often been thought to be?

Americans have often been deemed as a proud nation. Everything that we’ve ever stood for since the birth of our nation has been woven into the very fabric of what is considered to be an American: the first words written in our constitution, “We the people of the United States”, the official name of our country given to us by our founding fathers, “The United States of America”, and at one point, our “Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America”.

What happened to OUR united states? Where is OUR sense of patriotism as united states? Have we truly made all of these efforts to become a more dignified nation/leader of the world, only to have taken one giant misstep and fallen to the point we’re unable to get back on our feet again?

We are fighting for different beliefs of what is considered to be “American”. But, hey, isn’t that ironic? We’re fighting based on our different beliefs and our values of what it means to be an American. TO BE AN AMERICAN. As long as we don’t build our values based on fear and hate, there is no right or wrong way to being an American, as being American means all of these things. We ALL want to be, are proud of, and love being an American. So why are we even fighting?

Here's a link worth looking into. It's a trailer for Camp 32, a documentary that was made about a family who had survived the horrors of the Khmer Rouge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bXuBzgHH9k