Difference Essay

Cheyney Lusty
November 19, 2010
English 10-6

Albert Einstein, the genius of his era, once said, “The world is too dangerous to live in ---not because of the people who do evil, but because of the people who sit and let it happen.” I couldn’t agree more with this famous quote from such a strongly respected icon because history has shown how people get a flight or fight emotion. It is human nature is to think about how a situation will effect oneself before helping others.

The non-fiction novel Night, which is Elie Wiesels account of the Holocaust, provides many examples of evil being allowed to run rampant. An excellent example is the malnourishment of the prisoners. As a result of near starvation, guards would often throw food at the prisoners just to see them fight for their own amusement. The prisoners would often bite and even kill each other to get the food. Another good example is when Elie   had to watch a young innocent boy be hung simply because his mentor was accused of sabotage. No one, including the Lagerkapo refused to defend the boy because they feared the consequences.   From the Holocaust to the more recent acts of genocide in Africa and the Middle East, history repeats itself.

Since the Holocaust, there has been several attempts at genocide by ruthless tyrants. One example is the genocide in the tiny central African country of Rwanda, which was one of the most intensive killings campaigns, possibly the most intensive, in human history. The citizens of neighboring countries stood aside and let the killings happen out of fear that the violence would spill into their country. Saddam Hussein’s attempt of ethnic cleansing in Iraq is another good example of people letting evil flourish. Saddam viewed ethnic Kurds as a long-term threat to Iraq’s survival and the oppression and extermination of the Kurds was one of his administrations highest priorities. In a single act, Hussein ordered the slaughtering of 148 Shiite‘s. No one tried to step in...