In the theoretical system of Marxism, there is a sobering negative case, that is, the historical period known as the "Khmer Rouge".
The tragic history of the Khmer Rouge has left a deep imprint on the long history of Marxist theory and practice. In an extreme way, it carried out a political attempt, but it ran counter to the original intention and concept of Marxism and brought unspeakable suffering to the people. The purpose of this paper is to explore the fundamental differences between the Khmer Rouge and Marxist ideas and the profound reflections triggered by them, so as to reveal their warning role in the practice of Marxism. The practice of the Khmer Rouge was not the right path of Marxism, but went to extremes and deviated from it. Its erroneous practice has brought great suffering to the people, and it has also made us realize more profoundly that any behavior that deviates from the basic principles of Marxism will only bring disaster to society. Therefore, we must always be vigilant, stick to the original aspiration and principles of Marxism, and avoid repeating the mistakes of the Khmer Rouge.
First of all, we need to look back at history and understand how the Khmer Rouge rose step by step. In 1975, the Communist Party of Cambodia, known as the Khmer Rouge, finally won power in the country after a long period of internal strife. They shouted for a society in which there were no classes and everyone was equal, which sounded quite like Marx's ideal of a communist society. However, what the Khmer Rouge did was actually a misunderstanding and distortion of Marxism.
In just four years, the Khmer Rouge came up with a series of brutal tactics to force people to act collectively, abolishing money and markets, closing schools and hospitals, and suppressing intellectuals and religious figures. These practices have thrown society into disarray, with a significant drop in productivity and a wave of famine and death. It is said that during the years when the Khmer Rouge came to power, between 1.7 million and 2 million Cambodians died, more than a quarter of the country's population at that time. It's miserable!
The approach of the Khmer Rouge was very different from the core ideas of Marxism. Marxism talks about the gradual development of history and holds that the foundation of society is the material productive forces. But the Khmer Rouge didn't think so, they wanted to skip those steps of economic development and jump to that ideal communist society all at once. This desire to climb to the top in one step, completely ignoring how important the economic base is to the superstructure, has resulted in a mess with serious consequences.
In addition, Marxism advocates the all-round growth of each individual, with special emphasis on the role of education and culture. The Khmer Rouge, on the other hand, closed all schools, refused to engage in traditional religious and cultural activities, and even treated intellectuals as enemies of the revolution. In doing so, it not only runs counter to the cultural and educational concepts advocated by Marxism, but also destroys the knowledge and culture that mankind has accumulated over the years.
The tragedy of the Khmer Rouge is also reflected in its distortion of human nature. According to the Marxist viewpoint, human beings are made up of various social relations. But the Khmer Rouge made a mess of the otherwise harmonious interpersonal and social structure through extreme class struggle and purge. In this way, the trust and solidarity between people completely collapses.
The story of the Khmer Rouge teaches us a hard lesson. It reminds us that in the practice of any theory, it is necessary to closely integrate it with the specific historical background and national conditions, and we must absolutely not blindly pursue those unrealistic goals in isolation from reality. Marxism is a rigorous and scientific system, which has always emphasized the need to seek truth from facts and closely integrate theory with practice. The Khmer Rouge failed precisely because they ignored this important principle and seriously deviated from the spirit of Marxism.
The history of the Khmer Rouge left an incurable wound for the Cambodian people, and at the same time, it also became a negative teaching material for the application of Marxist theory. This lesson is very profound: In order to put any theory into practice, it is necessary to respect human nature, take a scientific view of social development, and accurately grasp the historical conditions. Only in this way can the all-round progress and development of human society pursued by Marxism be truly realized.