The Next Genocide Analysis

The Holocaust is one of the world’s darkest, most appalling events in the history of the world. Timothy Snyder, in his Op-Ed titled “The Next Genocide,” comments on the Holocaust by implying that “the Nazi Final Solution [was] some dark apex of high technology…[which] may seem a distant horror whose lessons have already been learned” (Snyder). However, he also proposes several reasons as to why the possibility of a genocide, similar to the Holocaust, is on the edge of happening. He examines that the main reason for Hitler’s treacherous actions towards the Jews was because he “believed that Germany needed more land and food to survive…and that Jews, and their ideas, posed a threat to his violent expansionist program.” He then traces three reasons,

Snyder agrees with Hitler that “hunger would outstrip crop improvements and that all ‘the scientific method of land management’ had already failed” (Snyder). The problem with this statement is that it is merely a suggestion without the support of any physical evidence. Hitler started exterminating the Jews shortly after World War One without giving an efficient amount of time for the improvement of the agricultural production. Furthermore, Hitler based his horrendous actions against the Jews on the concept of “Lebensraum” which is the “denial of science.” Hitler’s vision was that “only conquest, and not agricultural technology, offered the hope of feeding the German people,” and Snyder connects this vision into today’s society by stating that “contemporary environmental stresses could encourage…Hitler’s ideas.” However, nowadays, further studies and inventions created GMO (Genetically Modified Organisms), “where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced into the genes of an unrelated plant or animal” (“Seeds of Deception”). Kara Posso, an environmental science junior, expressively identified some of the benefits of GMO by claiming that “GMO foods, if put to use, could turn out to be more sustainable by allowing us to feed a lot of people. It would also mean using fewer pesticides, which are damaging to water resources” (“Nobel Laureate Praises Benefits of GMOs - The Daily Texan”). The effects of GMO will be

However, savagery exists even if the whole world was pecunious, because no matter how satisfied the people of a certain nation are, there will still remain a minority group who is disgruntled and either wants more power or complete transformation in the political system. Additionally, many governments around the world have been immensely successful in the fight against terrorism. The European Union, the FBI and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) “are committed to jointly fighting terrorism and providing for the best possible protection for its citizens” (“Fight against Terrorism”), and their results, which include: raising public awareness, securing flights, and enhancing explosives and air cargo screening, have been exceedingly gratifying. It is clear that the world realized and took into consideration the famous quote said by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Winston Churchill, that “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” The world learns from its history; therefore, the possibility of a next genocide is unlikely to