A Funny Story About a Writer, a Dictator, and a Really Bad Idea

In 1935, a famous French writer named Romain Rolland went to visit the Soviet Union. He saw a poor farmer's child who had no job and was starving. Romain asked his friend Gorky how this could happen in their society. Gorky said that sometimes, for the greater good of the majority, we must sacrifice the few. In this case, the 'few' were the wealthy farmers. Romain's wife said that if we can sacrifice some for the greater good, then we have no right to criticize Hitler for persecuting the Jews. This kind of thinking is what leads to authoritarianism and dictatorship. They identify a group of people as the source of all problems, and then they try to get rid of them. They give their leaders unlimited power and authority to do so. In modern China, some people still have this kind of thinking. They label those who buy Japanese cars as traitors and will even destroy their cars. They sacrifice the few to protect the majority. But this is wrong. We must recognize this kind of thinking as evil and not let it grow.