digg

Join DiggAbout

Digg Townhall Tonight!
Tune into the live Digg townhall tonight at 5:00pm PST/8:00pm EST.

High School Study on Genocide Eerily Predicted Real-Life

nytimes.com — In 1993, Mr. Walz gave a final exam of sorts. He listed about a dozen current nations — Yugoslavia, Congo, some former Soviet republics among them — and asked the class as a whole to decide which was at the greatest risk of sliding into genocide. Their answer was: Rwanda. The next April, in 1994...

show profanity settings
expand all
  • IrishJoe, on 04/24/2008, -0/+19Genocide can happen when a group of people in power convince themselves that another group in their midst is less human or less valuable than they view themselves. Perhaps they also fear the other group or want to scapegoat them for their problems. This was true of the Nazis' view of Jews, Slavs, Gypsies, homosexuals and people with disabilities. It was true of the Turks and their view of Armenians. Southern whites' view of blacks during the Jim Crow era when lynchings were common. The British view of Catholic Irish peasants in Ireland when during the “famine” all saleable food was exported from Ireland under armed British guard leaving the poor to starve on rotted potatoes and fill their bellies with grass. When any group in power convinces themselves that a less powerful group in their midst are their inferiors, genocide can happen. Killing someone you believe inferior to yourself can be rationalized as being like killing a dangerous animal. It’s not that Germans, Turks, or British are naturally evil people; they are not. But they were in positions of power and they saw an advantage in eliminating a group they perceived as less valuable or worthy than themselves. We need to be watchful of comments made by majorities about the inferiority of or danger presented by minority groups. Genocide isn’t always the result, but the possibility emerges under these circumstances.
    • SteveIsTheDude, on 04/24/2008, -8/+3Genocide against the disabled is WRONG. I think its important that someone said it. Thank you.
      • Shakermaker, on 04/24/2008, -0/+8...except that it really didn't NEED to be said. Of course it's wrong. That's like saying "I'm against Pedophaelia - it's wrong!"....
        • SteveIsTheDude, on 04/24/2008, -6/+1No... Its important to specify because its ok to kill those other *****, especially the fags.
    • ElAssoWipo, on 04/24/2008, -0/+5Genocide happens when the people are ignorant. The leaders can think whatever they think, it takes an ignorant to obey them.

      Ignorance is the cause of everything bad.

      The entire Rwandan genocide was orchestrated from a public radio station. They simply told them to kill each other, they obeyed.

      http://cjrarchives.org/issues/2002/5/rwanda-temple ...
      • xadhominemx, on 04/25/2008, -1/+1Ya! Ignorance is the cause of all cancer!
        • ElAssoWipo, on 04/25/2008, -0/+2If we knew how to cure cancer, would people still die from it?
    • Nougat, on 04/24/2008, -1/+2Check out the book Collapse by Jared Diamond. One of the contributing factors to the Rwanda genocide was increasing population and increasing poverty. People were killing each other in order to acquire farmland, because on average, each person was living off of 1/7 acre. That's on average; the "rich" had one and two acre farms, while the poor had gardens or nothing.
  • willdiggforfood, on 04/24/2008, -5/+22Those students need to be tracked down and eliminated in order to avoid more future genocide.

    (Digg me down you sluts!)
    • eviljolly, on 04/24/2008, -1/+5I guess it's a good thing we have the Patriot act (sarcasm)
    • MOJIRA, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Clearly the only solution to genocide is to kill all the students in the world.
    • Lansingite, on 04/24/2008, -1/+1Post hoc ergo propter hoc.
  • Mootabolife, on 04/24/2008, -1/+5Talk about being disconnected from the rest of the world. I'm Serbian, and the conflict there bothered me a great deal because I knew about it and talked about it. Most Americans, in contrast, think Serbia is some cold part of Russia. I guess these students got a taste of what it feels like to have an emotional connection to a conflict.
    • trogdor282, on 04/24/2008, -0/+4My parents have a sheep farm. It turns out our area (Syracuse, NY) has a whole bunch of Bosnian refugees. We didn't know until a bunch of them showed up to buy sheep. They're regular customers now. But looking back on it I feel kind of ignorant..
      • Voor, on 04/25/2008, -0/+0WTF, what are bosnian refugees doing in a continent oceans across from Europe in the middle of a farm, miles within this contient?
    • MariusAgricola, on 04/24/2008, -0/+2I know firsthand that Serbia is not just some cold part of Russia (it's actually quite hot in the summer time). I spent 6 months in Kosovo, carrying around my 210 rounds of ammunition, so I have that kind of connection with the conflict as well. Since I was with the combat support hospital there, I knew some of the costs of it: most of our patients were victims of shootings, stabbings and landmines. It is difficult for people in any society to be affected by these problems unless they have been there themselves.
  • Morghin, on 04/24/2008, -0/+13This is the kind of teaching we need more of, where you truly look at incidents, historic episodes and human fallacies with more than a passing glance in a text-book. Maybe we'd actually learn something that way.
    • thawkth, on 04/24/2008, -0/+2It doesn't benefit the powers that be to have an educated, rational, thinking populace.
      Therefore, we have none.

      That's why our world gets into the crazy nonsense predicaments it does- because many people will simply follow without thought.
    • zeabu, on 04/24/2008, -0/+2People that could learn already did, and the ones that should will never.
      • Jlaugh, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1That's a sad thought, one would hope they could pick up a few new things.

  • BSDaemon, on 04/24/2008, -7/+2This story is dumb, it just means they actually did their homework to come up with their likely candidate... it's not like they just randomly guessed...
    • Rocketbird, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1That's the point, doofus. You really would have been more impressed if they had randomly guessed correctly?
  • Radical5, on 04/24/2008, -8/+2Bomb Africa.

    Seriously.

    You Americans think you're fighting in Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan or any of that ***** for peace reasons and what the ***** not. Why not Africa too? They have a corrupt government that NEEDS to be overthrown.
    • Nougat, on 04/24/2008, -1/+5While Africa is a *continent,* not a *country,* I understand your inference. Many of the governments of African nations are corrupt and/or ineffective. I suspect that this is the result of colonization by western Europe, and the later retreat of those colonizers, leaving a void in their wake.

      But the fact is that chaos and horror in Africa does not affect America, certainly not the way that chaos in middle eastern oil producing countries does. Horror is absolutely the right word here, too.
    • mitchki, on 04/24/2008, -0/+8Africa is not a country. Africa consists of many countries. Your comment shows a profound ignorance that the high school class was able to overcome to the extent that they could anticipate the next genocide. If you had a similar education, perhaps you could make an educated comment about exactly which of the African countries have the most significant problems. Your comment is a shocking illustration of the depth of ignorance and lack of caring in most Americans about what happens in the world around us.
      • Radical5, on 04/24/2008, -9/+1ok ***** I didn't say Africa was a country so I don't know where you're getting that ***** from... and I guess I should have specified which areas precisely to bomb because apparently my opinion on the matter is very important and you assholes feel the need to dissect every single word someone says. personally I don't give two ***** about Africa because I don't live there, but I know that it has problems that need to be dealt with sooner than later.
        • azbmr, on 04/24/2008, -1/+4Well, you really showed them by starting off calling them an ignorant and derogatory term. The reason they thought that you thought that Africa was a single country was this line: "They have a corrupt government that NEEDS to be overthrown." What you might have meant was: "They have corrupt governments that NEED to be overthrown."

          I disagree with the entire idea of overthrowing other governments. Mostly because it seems to bite us in the ass a few years down the line. Other countries should offer amnesty to those in countries with "corrupt governments" (which I assume means genocidal & restrictive ones) and defend their own borders. Coup/invasion/occupation of these "corrupt governnents" always seems to beget more violence in the end.
    • JointVenture, on 04/24/2008, -0/+3Im hoping we let the EU, China, and India show US how its done this time. You know, since you're always telling us how we ***** everything up.
    • zeabu, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1We've evolved to the kind of democracy we have now over course of more than 2000 years, you cannot expect countries colonised in the 19th century (conquered sometimes before) and decolonised in the latter part of the 20th century, to be on par with us, even when would have stopped medling in their business. What Africa needs, what its countries need, is time. TIME. A lot of it. Not those 2000 years we needed, but more than 50-100yrs we seem to grant them. Europe has had dictators until the 80'ies. We have to let them do whatever THEY think is right, as long as they don't cross the border of commiting genocide.
      What happened in Ruanda is my country's fault. Before Belgium colonized it, they did not make a difference between Hutus and Tutsi. We said that one was more valuable than the other. By colonizing Africa, Europe has made problems, that wouldn't exist otherwise.
      • JointVenture, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1Im sorry, how do you explain Thailand? A country that has never been colonized by ANY country and seems to be doing just fine.
  • orchidee2, on 04/24/2008, -0/+3I think, this story is a wonderful example of how teaching should work. It should have something to do with real life, and one should be able to make use of it. Surely, there could be a more comfortable subject than predicting a genocide, but perhaps, scientists can learn from these pupils´ experiences, so that such horrible deeds might be prevented in future!
    • rblancarte, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1This is exactly what I was thinking too. I mean, this was a lesson that truly made the students think - get involved and really become knowledgeable about current events. At the same time, they did what history classes should do - they studied history and understood why things happened.
      Overall, this was an amazing article.
  • PresidentSoup, on 04/24/2008, -1/+2"A few had driven four hours to Denver to buy the new Nirvana CD."

    lol.
  • mcturdTheThird, on 04/24/2008, -1/+5Here's how to predict the next genocide. Any country that has economic interest for the U.S. that decides to stop playing by our rules will be a likely candidate for the next genocide.
    Look at any recent genocide. Like the one in East Timor. Most likely gonna find the U.S. government either funding it, spurning it, or doing it directly, if not all three at the same time. We don't call it genocide though. We call it policy.
  • thentro, on 04/24/2008, -0/+4The best part is that Tim Walz now represents the 1st Congressional District of Minnesota.
    Want good government? Elect good people.
  • BrendanSheehan, on 04/24/2008, -5/+21. Read Reddit front page
    2. Submit to digg
    3. Get on digg front page
    4. Profit??
  • kurtwinter, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1I'm sure that's only because the students just finished learning about evolution two doors down. I knew that stoned guy who sells eye drops was on to something!
  • JointVenture, on 04/24/2008, -3/+1I cant find Rwanda on the map? Dugg down for making up a country that doesnt exist.
    • gobbleplex, on 04/24/2008, -0/+1Funny, for such a heavily armed belligerant country.... you almost can't find it on the map, it's that small. Just ask some Congolese about the Rwandans.
      • JointVenture, on 04/24/2008, -1/+1Tutsi or Hutu?
        • zeabu, on 04/24/2008, -0/+2Tutsi or Hutu is a distinction my country has invented, Before Belgium colonized Congo (which later split in Congo Brasaville, Congo, Ruanda and Burundi) there was no distinction between them. It was a misconception of our racist settlers that lead to believe that small persons were one race, and tall slim ones the other.
          • JointVenture, on 04/24/2008, -0/+2Yup, Europeans are responsible for ***** up Africa, the Middle East, and SE Asia.

            Too bad we get stuck with trying to fix your mistakes. Yes we do make our own along the way, but YOU created the mess.
          • zeabu, on 04/25/2008, -0/+1The only thing I can say is, sorry for what my ancestors have done, and some of our politicians are still doing.
  • givemereplay, on 04/24/2008, -0/+4As an Armenian, and a descendant of a woman who survived the Genocide by hiding under a pile of her own family's bodies, it is my opinion that genocide occurs whenever one people believes that they can eliminate another without repercussion. The Turks have gotten away with the Armenian Genocide for 93 years, mainly because countries like the United States don't put any pressure on the Turks to recognize their past evil doings and pay reparations for damage caused. If we wish to prevent genocide now and in the future, we must always hold those who perpetrate it accountable, and we must always let brutal leaders know that the free world will not turn a blind eye to the slaughter of innocents.
  • OfNumbers, on 04/24/2008, -2/+214 year old High School project = Digg submission. Buried.
  • kd1s, on 04/25/2008, -0/+2Walz should be commended. He's a very good teacher because he taught his students how to think, not how to rote memorize.
    That said, the U.S. is sliding down the genocide path too. Our kill ratio in Iraq is about 20:1.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.