Pol Pot was a Marxist, schooled in France; part of the French communists such as Sartre et.al.
As I noted in a quote from Simone Weil on Facebook the other day:
“Marxism is a fully-fledged religion, in the impurest sense of the word. In particular it shares in common with all inferior forms of the religious life the fact of having been continually used, according to Marx’s perfectly accurate expression, as an opium of the people.” (Simone Weil, Oppression & Liberty p.165)
Weil was a fan of Marx, but chose to leave Marxism behind.
In the particular fragment the above quote comes from, Simone’s conclusions pull up alongside Roger Scruton’s in ‘Fools, Frauds & Firebrands (2015)’, and Jacques Ellul’ in ‘Jesus & Marx (1988)’.
I would also add in here F.A. Hayek’s ‘Road to Serfdom‘ (1944), Richard Wurmbrand’s, ‘Marx & Satan (1976)’, Albert Camus’, ‘The Rebel‘ (1951) and for good measure, Jean Bethke Elshtain’s, ‘Sovereignty: God, State, & Self‘ (2008).
In an article called, A dark century’s blackest cloud, from November 2004, The Economist gives a decent summary of what an ideological allegiance made to Marxism demands, and the tragic consequences that follow it. The piece brilliantly summarises the pain caused by Pol Pot to the people of Cambodia. (If I could, I’d quote the whole thing).
“…it was the pseudoscientific certainty of Marxism-Leninism, that malformed child of the Enlightenment, which was chiefly to blame.
…All Cambodians were to become workers on the land. There were to be no wages. Meals were to be provided by collective kitchens (“unity of feeding”). Each Cambodian had to refer to himself or herself as “we”, forbidden to use the first person singular. When one region found it did not have enough food, supplies were not sent from better-off places; rather, the hungry were marched off to look for them.
Of course, it did not work. Up to 1m people died of starvation.” (The Economist, 2004)
Marxism can be defined very simply as this:
Rich people manipulating not-so-rich people, into eliminating rich people, that rich people don’t like.
Further relevant reading on the snares of Marxism:
The N.Y. Times: Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed.
BBC News: Venezuela protests: Man set alight as death toll rises
The Washington Post: It’s official: Venezuela is a full-blown dictatorship
Rod Lampard 