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.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 then, a classic dysfunctional organization where we maintain the fiction that we were right all along.
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