262 million reasons to fight for freedom

As of late, the media has increasingly portrayed government protests as threats.

The assault on the US Capitol was a glaring example of the right-wing extremist movement, which now rivals the threat posed by international terrorism, according to former and current counterterror officials. CNN's Jim Sciutto reports.

— What's fueling the growth of far right-wing terrorism?, CNN

While in some circumstances that may be true, the media is known for its divine-like gaslighting and irony. The opposite of its statements is usually closer to the truth.

By that logic we should ask, is government a threat to human life?

WARNING.
This is not a pleasant topic.

Rudolph Joseph Rummel (R. J. Rummel) was an American political scientist who coined the term democide: government murder.

[Democide,] "the murder of any person or people by a government, including genocide, politicide, and mass murder."

— Rudolph Rummel, Wikipedia

The late R. J. Rummel had over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals and wrote several books including Death by Government, Power Kills and The Blue Book of Freedom. The information presented is sourced from Death by Government and his old website. A soft copy is available online through the links below.

Book: Death by Government

Author(s): R. J. Rummel
Publisher: Transaction Publishers, Year: 1997
ISBN: 1560009276, 9781560009276

Although having passed, his website is still hosted through Hawaii University. In the event the site is disrupted, an old version can be viewed using the Wayback Machine.

Government murder

What is government?

A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.

Governing is the act of making and administering public policy.

— Government, Wikipedia

Government has manifested through various systems throughout history. Each manifestation has drastically altered the way people are permitted to live their lives.

R. J. Rummel categorizes government into four approximate types:

1. Democratic.
   Power is balanced through political participation of poor and middle class.

2. Authoritarian.
   Power is concentrated in the hands of a leader or small elite.

3. Totalitarian.
   No individual freedom; all aspects of individual life are subordinated to the state.

4. Communist.
   Totalitarianism where “society” controls all aspect of individual life.

Sources of death

There are two broad mortality categories:

1. Natural.
   A natural cause, disaster, disease or famine.

2. Government.
   Result of government policy or ambition.

Government causes are classified as either intentional or unintentional:

1. Intentional.
   Designed to kill or cause the death of people.

   1. War.
      International or domestic conflict between political rivals.

   2. Democide.
      Murder of any person by a government.

2. Unintentional.
   Negligence.

   1. Famine.
      Widespread scarcity of food.

   2. Disease.
      Epidemic, pandemic, etc.

   3. Disaster.
      Storm, earthquake, fire, etc.

Democide is defined broadly as either:

1. Genocide.
   Killing of people because of group membership, e.g., national, ethnic or religious group.

2. Politicide.
   Killing of people because of their politics or political purposes.

3. Mass murder.
   Indiscriminate killings of any person by a government.

4. Terror.
   Extrajudicial execution, slaying, assassination, abduction of targeted individuals, etc.

A general term is necessary since these classifications overlap.

Democide is meant to define the killing by government, just as the concept of murder defines individual killing in domestic society. Here, intentionality (premeditation) is critical, including practical intentionality. If a government causes deaths through a reckless and depraved indifference to human life, the deaths are as though intended.

— The New Concept of Democide, Death by Government

i.e., Rummel also includes unintentional deaths in democide statistics.

Qualifications and clarifications

In Death by Government, pages 36 through 38, R. J. Rummel provides further specificity that qualifies actions by government as democide.

The following is a simplification of his criteria.

Democide is any action by government:
(Includes actions by officials or any entity receiving government aid, approval, etc.)

1. Designed to kill or cause death of people.

   1. Religion, race, language, ethnicity, etc. (including relationships with group).
      (e.g., Indiscriminate bombings, shellings or blockades).

   2. Fulfill quota.
      (e.g., Randomly selecting or arresting people for execution).

   3. Requisition system.
      (e.g., Taking all food and produce from civilians and farmers).

   4. Forced labour or slavery systems.

   5. Massacre.
      (e.g., Mass killings of prisoners of war or captured rebels).

   6. Lethal living conditions.

   7. Targeting noncombatants during conflict.

2. Causes death by virtue of reckless or depraved disregard for life.

   1. Deadly prison, concentration camp, forced labour, etc.

   2. Medical or scientific experiments on humans.

   3. Torture.

   4. Condoned murder, rape, looting and pillage.

   5. Famine or epidemic which government withholds aid or information.

   6. Forced deportations.

Exceptions include:
(i.e., Not democide).

1. Execution for capital crimes if allegations were not invented for the accused.

2. Actions taken against armed civilians during riot or mob action.

3. Death of noncombatants killed during attacks on military targets.

Democide is all government causes of death except war and capital crimes.

Worst examples

Nazi Regime (~ 20,946,000 deaths)

The Nazi genocide of “6 million” Jews is the most remembered and taught figure of WWII public education.

However, this figure does not include vast numbers of other people from:

• Euthanasia.

• Medical experiments.

• Starvation.

• Exposure.

• etc.

The total estimate of democide ranges between 15,000,000 and 31,600,000 people.
The estimate is given as 21 million men, women and children.

Soviet Gulag State (~ 61,911,000 deaths)

An estimated 62 million were killed by the Soviet Union’s Communist Party.
They were old, young, healthy, sick, men, women, infants and the infirm.

These are some of the reasons for deaths:

1. Wrong class.
   e.g., Land owners, aristocrats, kulacks, etc,

2. Wrong race.
   e.g., Ukrainians, Black Sea Greeks, Kalmyks, etc.

3. Wrong political faction.
   e.g., Trotskyites, Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries.

4. Related.
   e.g., Sons, daughters, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, etc.

5. Lands occupied by the red army.
   e.g., Balts, Germans, Poles, Hungarians, Romanians, etc.

6. Potential opposition.
   e.g., Writers, teachers, churchmen, military high command, etc.

Communist Chinese (~ 76,702,000 deaths)

R. J. Rummel originally estimated deaths from Chinese communism to be 35,236,000 deaths, however he later updated this number to approximately 77 million.

This is to account for China’s Great Famine between 1958 - 1961.

The deaths are categorized as:

1. Civil War-Sino-Japanese War (1923 - 1949)
   3,466,000 deaths.

2. Rule over China (PRC) (1949 - 1987)
   35,236,000 deaths.

3. China's Great Famine (1958 - 1961)
   38,000,000 deaths.

Democide statistics

Do not allow numbers to desensitize you to the value of human life.
These were real people.

1. Total of regimes with democide in the tens of millions.
   (DEKA-MEGAMURDERER)
   219,634,000 deaths.

2. Total of regimes with democide in the millions.
   (MEGAMURDERER)
   19,180,000 deaths.

3. Total of regimes with suspected democide in the millions.
   (MEGAMURDERER?)

   4,145,000 deaths.

4. Total of regimes with democide in the hundreds and thousands.
   (CENTI-KILOMURDERER)

   14,918,000 deaths.

5. Total of regimes with lesser democide.
   (LESSER MURDERERS)
   2,792,000 deaths.

6. 1987 - 1999 update.
   1,331,000 deaths.

Total (1900-1999): 262,000,000 deaths.

20th Centuray Democide — R. J. Rummel

Freedom saves lives

Below is Table 1.6 from Death By Government, which categorizes democide by government type and illustrates the relationship between democide and political power. This table has not been updated with Rummel’s revision of 50,000,000 and 38,000,000 deaths from colonial democide and Mao’s great famine respectively.

Table 1.6 — Death By Government (not updated)

By including R. J. Rummel’s updated figures and simplifying government type to democratic and non-democratic, the figures summarize to:

1. Democratic democide total.
   2,028,000 deaths.

2. Non-democratic democide total.
   259,972,000 deaths.

3. War total.
   34,021,000 deaths.

Total estimated deaths: 296,021,000 deaths.

Estimated death percentage:

1. Democratic democide.
   0.69%

2. Non-democratic democide.
   87.82%

3. War.
   11.49%

There is one conclusion.
Human life depends on freedom.

Non-democratic governments have historically killed over 7x more than war.
Do not be fooled by a government that claims itself to be democratic.

Governments have killed in more cruel and indiscriminate ways than we can imagine.

Freedom should not be taken lightly.

Concluding remarks

Government solutions create artificial government problems.

Political ambitions are a never ending business cycle of death, greed and hatred. Tyrants turn the poor and working class into beasts of labour through fear, anger, greed and pride. Remember, emotions are the vectors of psychological warfare.

Political power is created through government’s ability to play perceptual theatre through “acts.” If we want freedom, it will not be granted through election. Our democratic system has since eroded into a public / private partnership — fascism.

Freedom is earned through maturity, discipline and responsibility.
Either we govern ourselves and live life — or expect to become another statistic.

When government and corporations pledge to lower the population, I think we should take them seriously. Government does not exist to govern. It exists to serve its own interests and survive. The government’s greatest power is its ability to lie.

Here are a few thing to remember:

1. Do not give up your guns.

2. Do not rely on government subsidies and programs.

3. Secure your own food and water.

4. Do not trust government or media.

Those who trivialize freedom, or slander its promoters as “freedumbers,” should be held under extreme scrutiny. If they understood the true horror that accompanies the loss of freedom, they would not make blasphemous statements that dishonour the lives lost, forgotten and simply ‘estimated’ away.

CBC News @CBCNews

The word has become common among far-right groups, experts say.

cbc.caWhy the word ‘freedom’ is such a useful rallying cry for protesters | CBC RadioFor many, freedom is a malleable term — one that’s open to interpretation. That flexibility, in part, has fuelled its growth among certain groups, according to extremism researcher Barbara Perry.

We are seeing the beginning of totalitarianism in other countries.

Six bills in the Brazilian Congress criminalize everything from cutting in line to receive a vaccine to people who spread “fake news” about how vaccines work.

The project also criminalizes, with a penalty of two to eight years in prison, people who refuse to take the mandatory doses of vaccines.

The same punishment also applies to those who spread “false news” about the vaccines or how they work.

— Bills provide for imprisonment for those who doubt vaccines in Brazil, The Rio Times

(See their new tyrant in action).

Our freedom, our lives and our children’s lives are at stake.
Totalitarianism is here.

Are you ready to fight for freedom?