Pol Pot Summary

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While on the road to the country, people attempted to sell, trade, and barter cigarettes and what little food they had, however, the money to buy these things had become worthless in the course of a day. Overnight, the rich and poor were equal. They could both only carry what little items they had, and at each checkpoint they were searched. If a person had possessions such as; cameras, radios, books, or currency, they were immediately stripped of them. The Khmer Rouge believed that tangible items such as these were imperialistic and was the very idea of what the Khmer Rouge desired to eradicate.
When the citizens of Phnom Penh reached the countryside, they would be forced to write autobiographies stating their family histories, childhoods,
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His slogan, “Three tons of unhusked rice per hectare” soon became country’s goal. This number proved to be illogical due to the fact that before1970, Cambodia averaged less than one ton of rice per hectare. Even when emphasis was put on the collectivization of rice, Cambodia still exported the least amount compared to neighboring countries. Pol Pot and his followers did not rely on technological advancements or new equipment. The new leaders of Cambodia only relied on the forced labor from the people who has once resided in Phnom Penh. This collectivization relied on men and women to cultivate rice fields, build dams, canals, and villages. Many of the citizens that were forced to work on these projects died from diseases, malnutrition, and executions when they could no longer …show more content…
Cambodia still struggles with internal conflicts such as poverty, malnourishment, and even land confiscations. Cambodia is one of the poorest and least developed countries in Asia. 42 percent of Cambodia’s population does not have access to safe water. 22.8 percent of Cambodians are destitute, surviving on less than $1.25 per day. 3.7 percent of Cambodians have bank accounts, while less than one percent are using these to save money. Agricultural businesses have forcibly evicted 400,000 Cambodian from their homes and relocated them to sites with no electricity or sewage treatment facilities. It is clear that Pol Pot’s ideologies of creating a utopian agricultural country clearly did not work. Cambodia’s history is full of disruption an oppression that still continues today. Cambodia is in dire need of re-direction and

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