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Mao Zedong, one of the most evil men in history?

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F

Flying_Phoenix

Banned
When you think of some of the men who committed intentional mass scale evil the names the immediately pop up are Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. However one name that seems to polarize people is the other huge communist leader, Mao Zedong. Looking at numbers from a distance he seems to be a clear shot. The Great Famine killed more people than any event in history. However while most people agree that Zedong was hardly a great man, people wonder whether or not he's horridness is on the level of Stalin or Hitler. Some say that it was more so incompetence that resulted in most of those deaths, that he didn't foresee a famine coming.

Personally I haven't gotten much information on this. I know the Zedong is not a good man, but I'm not sure if he's on the level of "one of the most evil men of all-time". I wonder what is the opinion of others on this.

EDIT - One thing that sticks with me is that right after the famine he resigned his position. Could you imagine Stalin doing that?
 
S

SUPREME1

Banned
Easily top 3 all time.


'For the sake of progress' is never an excuse for deaths, much less on the scale in which it was done under him.


Also: Some of the top officials warned him and even pointed it out as it began occuring (the famine) and he didn't give a shit and stayed the course.
 
J

Jenga

Banned
most of his shit could be contributed to mostly ignorance and/or occasional incompetence


i recall hearing a major reason for the famine and whatnot was regional leaders over reporting farming results to meet and exceed quotas and what not as well
 
B

Baconsaurus Rex

Member
My history teacher, who could be wrong obviously, told me that Mao is responsible for the death of tens of millions. So he was a prick yes.
 
M

Mortrialus

Banned
Jenga said:
most of his shit could contributed mostly to ignorance and/or occasional incompetence
Click to expand...

Occasional incompetence?

Really though, the suffering caused by his reign was mostly incompetence and ignorance rather than outright hatred like with Hitler.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Jenga said:
most of his shit could be contributed to mostly ignorance and/or occasional incompetence


i recall hearing a major reason for the famine and whatnot was regional leaders over reporting farming results to meet and exceed quotas and what not as well
Click to expand...

This is true.

The story around Mao is a really complicated issue.
 
A

ATF487

Member
I'd say he's right to be in that company, with some reservations. He didn't have any regard for human life, and went to crazy lengths to kill dissent, but his hatred didn't seem as concentrated as Hitler's. Bad dude though.

It's just a good thing that he never killed Deng Xiaoping
 
S

SoulPlaya

more money than God
If you guys want a fascinating and first hand look into the psyche of Mao, read The Private Life of Chairman Mao. It was written by his personal doctor, and it shows just how out of touch the man became. Amazing book.
 
O

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
First the fall of the USSR, then Stalin, now Mao?

Admit it, you're getting GAF to help with a homework project aren't you?
 
J

jaxword

Member
The only thing I know about Mao is what gaf told me, and that he is the ultimate evil example of an evil atheist leader and proof atheism causes evil in countries.
 
M

mavs

Member
Flying_Phoenix said:
When you think of some of the men who committed intentional mass scale evil the names the immediately pop up are Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. However one name that seems to polarize people is the other huge communist leader, Mao Zedong. Looking at numbers from a distance he seems to be a clear shot. The Great Famine killed more people than any event in history. However while most people agree that Zedong was hardly a great man, people wonder whether or not he's horridness is on the level of Stalin or Hitler. Some say that it was more so incompetence that resulted in most of those deaths, that he didn't foresee a famine coming.

Personally I haven't gotten much information on this. I know the Zedong is not a good man, but I'm not sure if he's on the level of "one of the most evil men of all-time". I wonder what is the opinion of others on this.

EDIT - One thing that sticks with me is that right after the famine he resigned his position. Could you imagine Stalin doing that?
Click to expand...

Stalin intentionally starved those people to death, or at least the goal was repression and death furthered that goal. Mao definitely didn't operate that way, the people he wanted killed were killed by people.
 
S

SoulPlaya

more money than God
mavs said:
Stalin intentionally starved those people to death, or at least the goal was repression and death furthered that goal. Mao definitely didn't operate that way, the people he wanted killed were killed by people.
Click to expand...
Mao starved plenty of people too. He was just indifferent to their suffering.
 
Z

Zaptruder

Banned
If we're discussing evil on the basis of their total deleterious effect on the world...

I'd like to nominate the American republican party as a collective whole. No greater deleterious force upon the planet at this moment in time.

And yeah, on those parameters, MZD was one of the worst as well.
 
D

Divvy

Canadians burned my passport
Bulbo Urethral Baggins said:
What bothers me about Mao is that the Chinese people I know still hold him
in high regard. And these are young people. I don't understand it.
Click to expand...

It's not that black and white. A lot of Chinese people like my parents know he did some atrocious crap, but they also know that they would not have the lives they do now if he hadn't, and China would probably still be a shithole. Not that I'm saying the ends justify the means or anything, but it's more nuanced than just bad or good.
 
A

akira28

Member
When you say 'one of', that basically guarantees him a spot. The man would deflower different virgins every week. And this was after he had advanced syphilis and his teeth had been covered in green gunk from lack of care, and the medicinal tea wash he would give them daily.
 
U

Uchip

Banned
people often put the dictators themselves as being the most evil
but their devout followers and right hand men rarely get mentioned
its group think and its more fair to say that the nazi regeime was 'evil' rather than adolf
 
3

3dmodeler

Member
akira28 said:
When you say 'one of', that basically guarantees him a spot. The man would deflower different virgins every week. And this was after he had advanced syphilis and his teeth had been covered in green gunk from lack of care, and the medicinal tea wash he would give them daily.
Click to expand...

Meh, promiscuity isn't really a crime, he's a scumbag alright but unless those virgins were underage I wouldn't call that evil.
 
S

Something Wicked

Member
His response to MAD was essentially along the lines of "We have plenty of cities with millions of people. If we lose a few cities, it's no big loss. We'll have plenty of time to retaliate." It's something quite scarier than any Stalin stated when it came to nuclear war.


Mao was also a complete pedophile too.
 
A

akira28

Member
3dmodeler said:
Meh, promiscuity isn't really a crime, he's a scumbag alright but unless those virgins were underage I wouldn't call that evil.
Click to expand...



He was forcing those women.
He was infecting them with a potentially deadly disease.
Plus he was an old wrinkly man with a foul, stinking mouth full of green, rotted teeth.

No amount of power is aphrodisiac enough to counter those.

And yes, he liked young girls from country villages, they reminded him of his youth. Some of them would be considered 'under-age', but that's not even the point.

edit: anyway, I was just describing a facet of his personality. He did plenty of things that would put him in the running.
 
M

mavs

Member
SoulPlaya said:
Mao starved plenty of people too. He was just indifferent to their suffering.
Click to expand...

Fair enough, I withdraw the comment. Probably better to say that the effects of Mao's policies affected far more than just the people he wanted to terrorize.
 
K

Kerub

Banned
images
 
B

Bulbo Urethral Baggins

Banned
Divvy said:
It's not that black and white. A lot of Chinese people like my parents know he did some atrocious crap, but they also know that they would not have the lives they do now if he hadn't, and China would probably still be a shithole. Not that I'm saying the ends justify the means or anything, but it's more nuanced than just bad or good.
Click to expand...
I know it's not black and white and I guess that's what bothers me. He's considered one of the most murderous men in history by many scholars but is still revered in China. Do most people still have the view that he was a, let's say, "necessary evil"?
 
F

Flying_Phoenix

Banned
GavinGT said:
Didn't we cover this at length in your last thread about evil dictators?
Click to expand...

We didn't talk about Mao at all in the Josef Stalin vs Hitler thread.

Osiris said:
First the fall of the USSR, then Stalin, now Mao?

Admit it, you're getting GAF to help with a homework project aren't you?
Click to expand...

School just started for me 3 days ago...

SoulPlaya said:
If you guys want a fascinating and first hand look into the psyche of Mao, read The Private Life of Chairman Mao. It was written by his personal doctor, and it shows just how out of touch the man became. Amazing book.
Click to expand...

Awesome. Any info you can provide?

LQX said:
...or he is planning something.
Click to expand...

You're too curious for your own good.

SolKane said:
There are young American people who hold Ronald Reagan in high esteem, so anything's possible.
Click to expand...

I know Reagan was a shit president but come on. Hyperbolic much?

Bulbo Urethral Baggins said:
I know it's not black and white and I guess that's what bothers me. He's considered one of the most murderous men in history by many scholars but is still revered in China. Do most people still have the view that he was a, let's say, "necessary evil"?
Click to expand...

Well.
 
J

JGS

Banned
Zaptruder said:
If we're discussing evil on the basis of their total deleterious effect on the world...

I'd like to nominate the American republican party as a collective whole. No greater deleterious force upon the planet at this moment in time.

And yeah, on those parameters, MZD was one of the worst as well.
Click to expand...
What the heck did Mao do to share the stage with that group of pure evil?!?!?
 
S

speculawyer

Member
akira28 said:
When you say 'one of', that basically guarantees him a spot. The man would deflower different virgins every week. And this was after he had advanced syphilis and his teeth had been covered in green gunk from lack of care, and the medicinal tea wash he would give them daily.
Click to expand...

Wat?
 
U

Utako

Banned
The Chinese are taught that he was once a great man, but his mind went with age. When that happened, he was manipulated by his evil wife.
 
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