AHC: Noam Chomsky able to jiu jitsu criticism over Cambodia?

Justice and Starvation in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge Famine

The Cambodia Law and Policy Journal, Randle DeFalco, Dec. 2014.
http://cambodialpj.org/article/justice-and-starvation-in-cambodia-the-khmer-rouge-famine/

' . . . any perceived vestiges of “individualism” or “privatism” were banned, including cultivation of private subsistence gardens, private ownership of foodstuffs, and even the act of cooking privately. Absolute socialism also meant that all natural resources became the property of the revolution; consequently, Cambodians were forbidden to forage for alternative food sources.

' . . . no indication that the Party Center ever second-guessed the soundness of its policies. Instead, the Center blamed inevitable shortfalls in rice production on local CPK officials or the acts of “enemies” and saboteurs. This practice of blame shifting and denial, combined with the Party Center’s well-documented penchant for extreme violence, maintained the fiction of the infallibility of Party Center’s leadership, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Anyone, including veteran Khmer Rouge cadres, who criticized the policies of the Party Center or complained about the terrible living conditions or lack of food, was branded an enemy of the revolution and subject to arrest, torture and summary execution. . . '
And yes, like a damn religious cult, we want you working on the religion the whole time, not doing your own stuff. So, even subsistence gardens and foraging were prohibited.

And then, a classic dysfunctional organization where we maintain the fiction that we were right all along.
 
Last edited:
Justice and Starvation in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge Famine

The Cambodia Law and Policy Journal, Randle DeFalco, Dec. 2014.
http://cambodialpj.org/article/justice-and-starvation-in-cambodia-the-khmer-rouge-famine/

' . . . the Party Center sought to transpose onto agricultural policy the guerrilla warfare tactics that had worked so well during the 1970-1975 civil war. . . '

' . . . The entire civilian population was forced to work from sunrise to sunset every day in the rice fields or on massive irrigation projects without the benefit of modern machinery. These workdays would range from around ten to fourteen hours, based on seasonal hours of daylight, and many survivors report working until midnight or later during busy times such as harvesting when moonlight permitted. . . '

' . . . a series of fundamentally flawed irrigation projects that cost thousands of lives to build, yet were prone to collapse or failure during annual floods. . . '

' . . . were reorganized into uniform one-hectare squares. This required a series of new rice paddy walls that often interfered with existing irrigation channels. . . '

' . . . simply concluded that the revolution would grow feed, breed more animals and thereby quickly solve this problem. . . '

' . . . Fertilizer was also in extremely short supply. . . '

' . . . Finally, a lack of pesticides plagued the agricultural sector, . . . '
And we have a situation where we believe we can solve all these problems simply through will power! That if we believe hard enough and work hard enough. . . . . We what have, of course, is the complete absence of any kind of healthy interplay between theory and practice.
 
Last edited:
Justice and Starvation in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge Famine

The Cambodia Law and Policy Journal, Randle DeFalco, Dec. 2014.
http://cambodialpj.org/article/justice-and-starvation-in-cambodia-the-khmer-rouge-famine/

' . . . in 2013 former CPK state warehouse official Ros Suoy testified before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia that he worked at two warehouses in and around Phnom Penh between 1975 and 1979, and that he was aware that at least several other similar state warehouses existed in the area at the time. The Extraordinary Chambers is a hybrid Cambodian-United Nations tribunal with jurisdiction over international and domestic crimes committed in Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. Ros Suoy further testified that only unmilled rice was eaten within the country and that his warehouse often had to keep “four to five” rice mills operating constantly in order to process sufficient rice to meet the CPK’s demands for exports. Meanwhile, Ros Suoy stated that unmilled rice was kept in reserve for export orders and that, although other goods such as salt and cement were distributed from the warehouse to locations within Cambodia, rice was never redistributed within the country. . . '
This part is really sorry and awful, to say the least.
 
Last edited:
Justice and Starvation in Cambodia: The Khmer Rouge Famine

The Cambodia Law and Policy Journal, Randle DeFalco, Dec. 2014.
http://cambodialpj.org/article/justice-and-starvation-in-cambodia-the-khmer-rouge-famine/

' . . . Sao Phim was a long-time revolutionary and, by most accounts, a popular leader. During his leadership the Eastern Zone was a relatively better place to live than others, with less executions and better rations. The Eastern Zone was viewed with suspicion by the CPK leadership group, which feared Sao Phim’s autonomy, popularity, and ties with the hated Vietnamese communists. The Eastern Zone was thoroughly purged throughout 1977 and it was only a matter of time before Sao Phim was arrested and sent to S-21. In June of 1977, Sao Phim shot himself as CPK internal security officers were on their way to arrest him. . . '
Okay, so this fellow Sao Phim was arguably a pretty good guy, and this opens up some potential alternate history:

1) first possibility, when central command sends a group to check how you're doing, simply shoot them. Take their weapons, build up your own rebel army. Basically, become a war lord and this has happened many times in human history.

2) Or, perhaps something more artful, be welcoming, brag about all the "Super Great Leap Forward" achievements of your people, and then point out one or two areas you could use some extra help. Feel the person out, how much of a realist vs. ideologue they are. See if the two of you can become unspoken allies and meet common needs regarding the very important matter of maintaining the fictitious reports,

3) Or, do something in between, have your own soldiers as security against "saboteurs" or something equally ridiculous, but what you're really doing is flashing the Ace.

4) Or, simply keep it going as long as you can and then commit suicide before arrest, as Sao did in OTL, although I wish there was a better alternative.
 
Last edited:
And Roger Staubach would really have his work cut out for him! He would have to start early in 1976. Maybe Pol Pot thinks Roger is almost uniquely good as an insurance policy that the U.S. won't attack, and so he humors him along. Roger picks up that something like this is happening, but he still plays the situation for all it's worth.

Roger quickly hits upon the idea that he has to talk with local village leaders and get them to pick a big showy irrigation project they can show off to inspecting officials from the CPK (Communist Party of Kampuchea). Some of Roger's fellow Catholic ecumenical members really fret and worry over the ethical implications of this. Roger doesn't. He sees there's too much work to get done right now. Mainly of the Cambodian villagers pick up on what Roger is trying to do. And in this way, there's a modest amount of bottom-up added to this very top-down revolution.

Roger even sells top CPK and Khmer Rouge officials (much overlap between the two but not entirely) on the importance of small vegetable gardens for added nutrition and as an example of a new expanding ethic of sharing with your neighbors. Pol Pot humors the "naïve" Staubach in this regard.

Roger and his 20-odd person team travel as much of Cambodia as they can in the Spring months. About half the team members don't have the heart for it, or wonder if they're doing enough clear-cut good in a very murky situation, or become physically ill from lack of food and unsanitary conditions. Roger respectfully helps them find a way back home, and he continues on.
 
Last edited:
Starvation Under the Democratic Kampuchea Regime

J. Solomon Bashi
Northwestern University School of Law
DC-Cam Legal Associate Summer 2007

'In reading accounts of survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime, a consistent theme emerges. More than the killings, they discuss the lack of food. “Food was my God” is a common refrain.[1] Survivors talk about how each meal they eat evokes a visceral memory of the hunger they endured 30 years ago. For many, this feeling of hunger encompasses their impression of the Khmer Rouge regime. . . '
Please do google search for: Bashi "Khmer Rouge" rice export

Yes, the lack of food was huge.
 

youtube: Animation Khmer Rock Band (Too Late)

So, with people at least trying different ways to intervene, and a lot of good luck along the way . . . . we might have more music of all types, and by the way, I think this is some pretty good heavy metal.

And in a better world, the "Too Late" would refer to lost love (Well, of course!) and not a bunch of people dying from starvation.
 
Last edited:
This is one of the stranger threads I've ever seen.

Chomsky or Staubach leading civilian teams into Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge? The answer to the question is that they both die horribly. As does every poor fool they take with them.

Only way Chomsky could do good would be if he was leading a few divisions and not a handful of linguists.
 
This is one of the stranger threads I've ever seen. . .
Thank you. I'll accept this as high praise. :)

And you're right of course. Most likely Chomsky and Staubach will end up dead just like the Cambodians. But . . . always some chance they might pull it off like Oskar Schindler and his Enamelworks factory pulled it off.
 
Thank you. I'll accept this as high praise. :)

And you're right of course. Most likely Chomsky and Staubach will end up dead just like the Cambodians. But . . . always some chance they might pull it off like Oskar Schindler and his Enamelworks factory pulled it off.

I mean not really. The Khmer Rouge were a hell of a lot more schizophrenic then the Nazi's ever were.
 
And the few divisions did come into Cambodia on Christmas Day, 1978. Vietnam invaded and went all the way to the capital city of Phnom Penh.

You see, Khmer Rouge soldiers had been crossing the border, attacking Vietnamese villages and killing Vietnamese citizens, and if that's not a justification of war, I don't know what is. Of course, that's the all time classic justification of war, whether it's Vietnam or it's anyone else.

Now, arguably, Vietnam didn't need to drive all the way to the capital city, but they stopped the genocide. And instead of praise, even grudging praise, Vietnamese and occupied Cambodia was frozen out of trade and international development aid. Including by ASEAN. It wasn't just the big bad United States, of course we're going to be against them because they embarrassed us.

* ASEAN is Association of Southeast Asian Nations
 
roger-staubach.jpg




I think Roger and Noam look slightly alike. Enough that when they gave speeches back in the U.S. during the mid '80s, they often did an open joke with the audience.

Noam would say, Oh, Boy, let me tell you when we played the Vikings in the old Metropolitan Stadium. We would try and do blocking schemes and outfox Alan Page. He often ended up outfoxing us.

And Roger will say, Okay, let me give you a quick two-minute summary of the modern science of linguistics (it's actually closer to three but Rog carries the audience forward!) Roger's genuinely a pretty smart guy. Yes, he "only" has a four-year degree from Annapolis. But he's very proud of the fact that he leverages it so well and can give such a quick, turbocharged summary.
 
Last edited:
There are different ways to play poker, and in 1976 Roger works the Khmer Rouge leadership. They think they're fooling him and that he's a real good insurance policy against the Americans attacking.

Actually, he's playing them. He's helping regional commanders get their splashy engineering and irrigation projects to show the leadership. At the same time, he's matter-of-factly pushing family gardens and sharing with neighbors.
 
And the few divisions did come into Cambodia on Christmas Day, 1978. Vietnam invaded and went all the way to the capital city of Phnom Penh.

You see, Khmer Rouge soldiers had been crossing the border, attacking Vietnamese villages and killing Vietnamese citizens, and if that's not a justification of war, I don't know what is. Of course, that's the all time classic justification of war, whether it's Vietnam or it's anyone else.

Now, arguably, Vietnam didn't need to drive all the way to the capital city, but they stopped the genocide. And instead of praise, even grudging praise, Vietnamese and occupied Cambodia was frozen out of trade and international development aid. Including by ASEAN. It wasn't just the big bad United States, of course we're going to be against them because they embarrassed us.

* ASEAN is Association of Southeast Asian Nations

I was aware of all of that. I was stating that the only way to end that continually evolving monstrosity was military force.

Honestly Chomsky going in with linguists seems like the worst team he could find. Considering the overwhelming paranoia and the regimes fear of foreign influence and desire to "correct" Cambodian culture. I'd say the entire team ends up being guests of Khmer interrogators.
 
. . . Honestly Chomsky going in with linguists . . .
these days, I'm leaning more toward Staubach and his Catholic ecumenical team. ;) And Oh Yes, this is definitely a flight of fancy.

But if Oskar Schindler can pull it off, well, just maybe ol' Rog Staubach can, too. Even if the Khmer Rouge is a different type of crazy and arguably a worse type
 

youtube: Another Fun Hank Hill/Tom Landry Dream Sequence!

Someone said this reminded them of a King of the Hill fantasy dream. I happily plead guilt to that! :)
 
Top