Raphael Lemkin: Genocide Is An Ideal Society

Genocide is an act committed with the intent of destroying in whole or in part, a nation, ethnicity, race, or religious group. In the twentieth century, there was a lot of demonization. The century is known as the “century of genocide.” Demonization was used by perpetrators of genocide to make victims seem sub-human, in order to justify actions taken against them. There are many causes for genocide. One cause is that perpetrators see a group as being worthless, standing in the way of an ideal society. This can be seen in the genocides committed against Armenians, Jews, and Tutsis. Another cause is that during time of trouble, people feel the need to protect themselves, resulting in lost respect for another group for circumstances. Genocide is a word Raphael Lemkin came up with. He campaigned for international laws for defining and forbidding genocide and a ban against crimes against humanity. His proposals however, were turned down at the Paris Peace Conference of 1945. The reason very few people protest against these actions is that most people are concerned about their problems. We are not capable of putting our attention towards the greatest occasions of human misery. This is one reason Raphael Lemkin had his proposals turned down at the conference. Currently, there are genocides

Often, the government uses a minority group as a scapegoat to divert the attention of the population for the real problems in the country. The chosen group of people picked to be demonized are blamed for all the negative circumstances. They are portrayed as perpetrators standing in the way of the progress and prosperity of the nation. The anger of the general population is directed towards the future victims of genocide, which makes it easier to commit atrocities. This is due to the fact that if someone is evil, there are no moral restraints to destroy the