All it takes for a movement to gain traction in an attempt to bring about change is the influence of people on social media who embolden other like-minded individuals to speak out.
But there are some issues people have been reticent to talk about – or know nothing of – concerning how the government somehow failed them.
Curious to hear what strangers on the internet thought, Redditor TheCosBee asked:
"What is the worst thing your government has done that most people don't know about?"
Past wrongs have never been forgotten.
In Sudan
"A charity built a children's hospital in my third world home country. The moment they left, the government sold the incubators, beds, air conditioning and anything else that can be removed. Distributed the money amongst themselves."
In Denmark
"In 1951 the state forcibly removed 22 Greenlandic children from their parents and moved them to Denmark in order to give them 'a better life', so they could be 'role models' for other Greenlanders, as a social experiment, which for obvious reasons was deeply traumatizing for the children."
– Rasmoss
In The Netherlands
"Massacring close to the entire population of an island group in Indonesia because we wanted all the nutmeg for ourselves. It happened in the 17th century on the Banda islands."
In Namibia
"Not sure how well this is known but there was an uprising in Namibia in the 18th century while it was still a German colony. The German soldiers refused to fight because they didn't want to shoot civilians. So the high command told them to shoot over their heads to push them out into the desert where they would starve them out. In the end, I believe 200k died."
Some shameful acts by the government have been known to continue today.
In Canada
"Canada has continued forced sterilization programs for native women as recently as 2017."
"Just a fun fact."
In Mexico
"Erasing people that are against the government politics happens every time in Mexico."
In The Philippines
Current war on drugs here in the Philippines. President Duterte allowed the police to kill suspected drug dealers. That's right, kill, not arrest no investigation, no warrant, no court. A cop can waltz inside a house of a guy he doesn't like, kill him, plant some drugs and a gun, and go off scot-free. This has cost the lives of 5,000 'drug dealers' with no progress on the drug war."
– Mememoid
The atrocities of World War II included these events not many are aware of in other parts of the world.
In Croatia
"During WW2, Croatia had special concentration camps for killing children."
In Sweden
"Sweden had 'concentration camps' during WW2 where they conducted racial studies."
In Australia
"Australia had concentration camps during both WW1 and WW2. Rottnest, the island most known for the cute Quokkas, has had most it's time as an Aboriginal prison island since westerns arrived but during WW2 it was a camp for Italians to be held in as they weren't trusted."
In Japan
"Granted Japanese researchers immunity from being prosecuted for war crimes after WW2 in order to access the medical data the researchers obtained through ghoulish medical experiments they conducted on living human subjects."
The many contributions from Redditors in the thread are an indication that known or unrecognized corruption is not limited to certain countries.
There is beauty in the landscapes in all parts of the world with many significant cultural differences making each country remarkably unique.
However, the comments from international Redditors shared here are a sobering reminder of the many injustices around the world that continue getting swept under the rug or are difficult to forget.
Reddit user Aventurion asked the folks over on r/AskReddit:
Photo by Caleb George on Unsplash
10.
GiphyBut old school Discovery channel. The one that you could actually learn something from.
Old school Animal Planet as well! Back when we had the Steve Irwin and Jeff Corwin on the channel just with animals. I always loved that channel as a kid. Man old school Discovery, Animal Planet, and History channels were the best.
9.
Intermissions during really long movies
I don't get why this doesn't come back.
No one likes having to miss part of a movie to use the bathroom. No one likes having to miss 5 minutes of a movie for a popcorn refill. Just do a 5 minute intermission. It would make moviegoing a better experience.
It wouldn't delay the total time for the movie much at all, either. And it would also prevent more people randomly getting up and leaving during the movie.
I guess the only downside is everyone shuffling in at the 5 minute mark
8.
America used to have a widely-used passenger rail system like European countries have. Some cities had popular tram systems, too. Car companies dismantled all of it so that America would become dependent on their products, leading to what we have today.
We went backward as a nation so that the executives of a few companies could profit.
7.
Actual quality products. And I'm not talking about cheap Walmart brand crap being nicer. I fully believe you get what you pay for. Like there's things that I wish I could buy, and I would pay the commensurate high price, that are just high-quality and would last. For a lot of things that option literally doesn't exist anymore.
5.
Vine.
I don't know whether this is a cringy opinion to have, but I believe a unique art form was lost when Vine died. That 6-second limit forced people to use creative ways to rapidly tell a story and a lot of hilarious stuff came out of it.
There are a few videos on TikTok that sort of recapture the Vine feel, but I still feel like I'm watching a hollow ghost of something once-great when I watch TikToks.
I'm just glad that people managed to save a ton of the classic Vines in youtube format. Sad that we won't be seeing any new ones unless a 'Vine 2' launches, and even then, I'm not sure it's going to feel the same.
4.
Honest government.
President Carter sold his peanut farm to avoid any conflict of interest before he took office of the US Presidency.
3.
Thylacines. Dodos. Quaggas. Passenger pigeons. Stellar's sea cows. Dusky seaside sparrows. The list goes on.
2.
Technically Blockbuster still has ONE remaining store open somewhere in Alaska I think, but, I miss Blockbuster. Like back when it was poppin. I miss strolling on over there on Friday, renting a game or two and a movie, get some popcorn and candy. It was always a good experience. I still have my blockbuster card in my wallet tbh. No joke. They demolished the building our local one was in last year finally and built a Walgreens in its place.
RIP Blockbuster, you will forever be missed. ❤️
