Frustrated groups of people who are strongly against what they perceive as shameful actions of the government speak out in various forms of protests.
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.
