What is the intention of Black Lives Matter and are they the new Khmer Rouge? This brief investigation seeks to determine if the grassroots movement has a desire to replicate a ‘Year Zero’ policy.
The philosopher Francis Fukuyama postulated the end of history. Obsessed with his theory that in historical terms humanity had cultivated a liberal democratic structure that he thought would envelop the globe, his thesis maintained that eventually utopia would spread exponentially. (See Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man). His concept is idealistic and positive, and manifests the notion that humanity has been a passenger on a voyage to paradise.
Western Liberalism …
Underpinned in the American Revolution was a principle of starting over, a new era of freedom and liberty. Thomas Paine writing in 1776 (during the American Revolution) said:
The precepts of liberalism had been characterised by universality; a belief that man should be individual and (to quote J. S. Mill) “sovereign over himself”. So the notion of ‘starting again’ or beginning at ‘Day Zero’ or ‘Year Zero’ is nothing new and has in fact personified Western legacy. The concept of ‘Year Zero’ presents itself in revolutions, warfare, and in attacks on democracy. Even in static theology does a new beginning materialise; in the Christian religion it is said Jesus will return.
The allusion to ‘zero’ is often within the framework of destruction. Think ‘Ground Zero’ in New York. A reference to the terror attacks on the World Trade Centre in 2001, or the conclusion of the Second World War in 1945 which became known as Stunde Null (Hour Zero) in Germany, or the bombings of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki which became known as Zero Points.
Cambodia’s Year Zero
Nonetheless the most sinister presentation of such a concept was in 1970’s Cambodia. I have commented on the repulsion of the Communist Khmer Rouge in previous articles on this blog, but I now feel compelled to once again reference them.
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Diametrically opposed to Fukuyama’s thesis was Khmer Rouge doctrine. The collapsing Soviet Union inspired Fukuyama’s belief that liberal values will flood the void left by the Union and thus Fukuyama must be understood within the context of time. Libertarian ideals were likewise critical to the backbone of the American Revolution.
But Khmer Rouge doctrine drew inspiration from Marxist dogma. The Khmer Rouge hurried the implementation of their radical manifesto, in contrast to Fukuyama’s vision where we gradually and slowly progress towards liberalism. In other words the Khmer Rouge were impatient to implement their vision of utopia.
Anti-modern structures and hallucinations of utopia combined with nefarious brutality intended to emancipate Cambodians and deliver a new beginning, a Year Zero. Cambodia’s past was swept away in a hurricane of enthusiasm and classical Marxist, Leninist and Maoist dogma.
What Did Year Zero Seek to Achieve?
Crushing political opposition and multiple references to ‘Grasping the wheel of history’, were common Khmer Rouge tactics. Such tactics would foster an active break with the past. It is this definition that underpins the notion of ‘Year Zero’.
On its seizure of power the Khmer Rouge sought to abolish educational facilities, religious practices, newspapers, money, private property and private enterprise. Shielded from the outside world and forced into collective communes, so-called ‘intellectual’ Cambodians and ethnic minorities were often victims of Khmer Rouge brutality.
Imagine a sheet of paper full of typed text. The Khmer Rouge sought to eradicate the typeface and begin with a blank sheet. Replaced with a revolutionary culture, traditional Khmer society could no longer flourish. Purged and expunged of its past, Cambodian society was destined for the new paradise. History would start afresh and a utopian paradise created from the grassroots.
Are Black Lives Matter the Same as the Khmer Rouge?
To answer my own question, no they are not! Currently they do not have the resources, political power or coherent manifesto to initiate a full-scale revolt. Yet their intention is to replicate the Communistic attempt made by the Khmer Rouge, albeit more successfully. There is little doubt that Black Lives Matter would seize any opportunity to eliminate Western culture. They seek to undermine a culture – Western culture – that offends and affronts them. They want to eradicate the pages of Western ethos.
A collective organism of thinking replaced individualistic thinking. Official Khmer Rouge policy attempted to abolish all forms of individuality. Intellectually free from the restraints of singular thinking the individual would be more valuable to a regime seeking to promote uniformity.
Similarly, Black Lives Matter seek to replace the traditionalism of individual liberty with a new collective dogma free from bourgeois ethics and cultural malevolence. By destabilising society and replacing its culture with something fresh and revolutionary it hopes to re-calibrate our thinking. Like the Khmer Rouge they urge us into a collective organism conditioned to think homogeneously. This is symbolised in their dedication to tear down our historic statues in the U.S., the UK, and Australia. Eliminate the past and you eliminate culture and create the viable conditions in which collective thinking can be arranged.
Black Lives Matter & the Khmer Rouge Year Zero Policy
Sadiq Khan, the current London mayor has said: “Our statues, road names and public spaces reflect a bygone era.” Claiming to have campaigned in the past for more diverse statues he continued: “the Black Lives Matter protest has accelerated some of this stuff”.
All UK Labour councils are to review statues and it’s likely many will be removed and replaced with more diverse representatives. It simultaneously feels like a step into the past in order to progress into the future.
Until recently the prospect of successful radical Communism has been unthinkable in the West. “It would never happen here” is a regular synopsis. But our institutions are weak and surrendering to the demands of the protesters. Our elites are ready to relent and yield to a radical dogma so they don’t ‘offend’ the sentimentalities of the mob.
The West is in trouble. The irony of the Black Lives Matter movement is that they seek to eliminate our past while focussing on the … past! Our elites and our institutions are complicit in the profound verdict that our past needs abolishing. My hope is that Western culture is resilient, and yet my instinct is that we are submissive and feeble!
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