History of Government Murder (Democide)
Democide Overview:
Democide, the killing of people by their own governments expanded on a massive scale during the 20th century rise of totalitarian socialist states. It is a consistent feature of totalitarian states, with the all of the mega killers being socialist nations. R.J. Rummel who coined the term has done extensive research on the subject, rephrased Lord Acton’s statement that “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” as “Power kills; absolute power kills absolutely.” He concludes that democratic freedom is not only the engine of individual wealth and prosperity, but also the source of security; that the more power governments have the greater the insecurity and violence. Not only does centralized power impoverish, it kills.
Magnitude:
Democide or the killing by governments of their own people for political reasons, whether by intention or by misguided policies that lead to murder and starvation, has resulted in an estimated 169 million deaths in the 20th century, estimated to be more than 4 times as many people as were killing in all the wars during the same period. It includes:
- genocide – government killing of people who belong to a particular group
- politicide – murder by a government of those with the “wrong” political beliefs
- mass murder – indiscriminate killing of people by a government
The number of people killed by their own governments in the 20th century is mind boggling. Over a quarter of a billion people have been executed, starved to death, sent to gulags to slave away and die, etc. 262 million people killed for political reasons, most because of the “ideals” of socialism/communism. That is six times as many as were killed during all the wars of that century and twice as many as were killed in all of previous recorded history. The biggest killer countries were:
- People’s Republic of China – 35 million (single party socialist republic)
- USSR – 62 million (Union of the Soviet Socialistic Republics)
- Nazi Germany – 21 million (National Socialism)
But the problem is not just socialist countries. Some free countries have been involved in large scale killing. Rummel puts the count for the United Kingdom between 1900 and 1987 at 816,000, not a trivial number. If England can kill that many people, are we justified in thinking it can't happen here?
Relationship to Guns:
Governments that kill their own people frequently disarm them first. Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership, has chronicled the historical relationship between gun control and democide in a webpage called Death by “Gun Control” which includes a downloadable pdf file of their informative chart. It shows how permits, licensing, registration, bans, and criminalization of gun ownership or possession frequently preceded, in a slow incremental fashion, the murder of millions, including but not limited to disarming the Jews in Nazi Germany.
The earliest gun control laws in the United States were designed to disarm blacks during the KKK’s lynching campaigns in which 1700 blacks were murdered (although not democide, the effect was the same).
Recommended:
Freedom’s Principles by R.J. Rummel, a 221 page downloadable PDF book about the principles that prevent democide
Government Abuse of Power gateway into the world of government abuse of power
Sources:
Definition of Democide by R.J. Rummel who coined the term
Death by Government, statistics compiled by R.J. Rummel, be sure to look at the update notes
Government Repression and Democide, Graduate Course Syllabus PS740 by R.J. Rummel