In 1958 Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, and the party leaders decided to take advantage China's greatest asset, its gigantic labor force. The country would focus upon industrialization and collectivization. Over the next four to five years all the nation's resources were geared to labor and production and everything from pots to plows were sacrificed for metal production, labor was channeled off the farms for production quotas and gradually one of the greatest disasters in human history was created. This was "The Great Leap Forward", also known as "The Great Famine." Over 45 million people died. Most simply starved as agriculture, along with most other commercial functions, ground to a halt.
But it was worse than it sounds. According to Frank Dikotter's new book "Mao's Great Famine": "Thanks to the often meticulous reports compiled by the party itself, we can infer that between 1958 and 1962 by a rough approximation 6 to 8 per cent of the victims were tortured to death or summarily killed - amounting to at least 2.5 million people. Many more vanished because they were too old, weak or sick to work - and hence unable to earn their keep. People were killed selectively because they were rich, because they dragged their feet, because they spoke out or simply because they were not liked, for whatever reason, by the man who wielded the ladle in the canteen. Countless people were killed indirectly through neglect, as local cadres were under pressure to focus on figures rather than on people, making sure they fulfilled the targets they were handed by the top planners."
Such is the price people pay for visionaries.
But it was worse than it sounds. According to Frank Dikotter's new book "Mao's Great Famine": "Thanks to the often meticulous reports compiled by the party itself, we can infer that between 1958 and 1962 by a rough approximation 6 to 8 per cent of the victims were tortured to death or summarily killed - amounting to at least 2.5 million people. Many more vanished because they were too old, weak or sick to work - and hence unable to earn their keep. People were killed selectively because they were rich, because they dragged their feet, because they spoke out or simply because they were not liked, for whatever reason, by the man who wielded the ladle in the canteen. Countless people were killed indirectly through neglect, as local cadres were under pressure to focus on figures rather than on people, making sure they fulfilled the targets they were handed by the top planners."
Such is the price people pay for visionaries.
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