Genocide

Human beings are capable of truly horrendous things but few acts are as heinous as genocide. The concept of eradicating an entire ethnic group is both terrifying and disgusting. There are many instances of genocide throughout history, but the best known one is obviously the attempt by Adolf Hitler to eradicate all of the Jews in Europe. It's an absolutely mind boggling concept, the attempt of completely erasing an entire group of living human beings. What leads up to genocide, I believe, is first the spread of rhetoric. Adolf Hitler started off by spreading hateful speech across Germany and utilizing the already present animosity of his people to fuel the nefarious plans he had in mind. After the rhetoric was spread, he used that as a foot step towards the next part of his goal which we all know was the actual carrying out of his ideas. Many of the German people truly believed that he was simply expelling the Jews, instead of actually killing them off, but sadly, many people most definitely did know what was going on and they rationalized it by being blinded to the hateful, yet charismatic speech of their leader. Of course the holocaust isn't the only instance of genocide throughout history, far from it. There was the Armenian genocide by the Ottoman Empire which many in Turkey still deny to this day. There's also the very recent genocides in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia which are both painful reminders that we as a whole, aren't past the point of committing such barbaric practices. Genocide is sick, disgusting, insane, and unfortunately, something that will continue to play a part in humanity now, and most likely in the future. In my opinion, the best way to counter it, is the spread of knowledge and enlightenment. If we combat hate wherever it rears its ugly head, we can steer humanity away from the dark paths it has treaded before. Horrifying as genocide is, we are animals deep down, and while it is an example of us giving in to our lesser desires, we are also human at our core and can do our very best to change our actions. Genocide is unforgivable, and it doesn't have to remain a part of our society. It will take a large amount of effort on the part of everyone, but I believe it can be eradicated. Eradicating eradication should be a primary goal of society.