Mongols on Trial

I personally enjoyed the trial. It was fun seeing everyone put on the roles they picked. If we did another one I think I'd pick to be a direct examiner though, because being cross-examined was terrifying. The prep was pretty easy, especially because of the variety of sources we could use. But when it came to the actual trial, I found that a lot harder. You had to think quickly and remind yourself that no matter what you personally felt, you had to make the Mongols sound a certain way. That was tough for me, because I would have easily voted them guilty, but I was a part of the defense. I think I did better with my questioning with Melissa than the cross examination. I wish I hadn't faltered under Futaba so much, but can you blame me? I knew my information but being put on the spot is not my strong suit.

I think that a person can be ambitious, successful, and prosperous while also being a terrible person. That's kind of what I think of the Mongols. They had incredible achievements and expansion, but I don't like the way they went about gaining that. I personally don't like humanity's need to conquer conquer conquer. It's nice to expand and rule, but it's impossible to do without tons of bloodshed. And I think people have always been, and always will be, too greedy and violent to break these habits. It's depressing, but I don't see many other options when I look at how we act today. But back to the Mongols, I think we can admire them for their accomplishments and military strength while also acknowledging that they were ruthless killers. As were most people we learn about in history. Humans are just violent, unfortunately. We're selfish and greedy and ignorant. But that's besides the point.

I would have definitely found them guilty of terrorism and kidnapping. It's pretty clearly written in history that they stole people from opponents all the time, and they instilled fear through this and by demolishing cities. There's no way they didn't know the effect they would have on other societies by destroying everything in their path. They were far too clever for that. As for genocide, I'm not sure. I'd probably not charge them with that, only because I don't think they killed anyone because of their race, religion, etc. They just wanted to rule everybody, I don't think they cared which specific groups they were ruling. Equal opportunities for all the conquered, wooo!

Genghis Khan - insane or genius?

Genghis Khan was known for being one of the most ruthless leaders the world has ever seen. But was he crazy? I think that depends on your definition. I think he was extremely power hungry and driven - all of his attacks were thoughtfully planned out ahead of time. There was always a reason, a purpose, a strategy. He wasn't just randomly killing of people - you know, except for his half brother that took his fish. He carefully planned out all of his attacks so that they would benefit him - often scaring other potential targets into surrendering. He could just as easily have slaughtered them, but it was more logical to let them give up peacefully. He was also said to save women and children from the attacks. I know, "but killing men is just as bad!" The world he was brought up in was brutal, though. Survival was vital and could only be achieved through personal strength and determination. Genghis Khan was raised and taught that in order to survive and thrive, seizing power was necessary. And killing was necessary to seize power. Do I think killing a family member over a fish is normal? No. In fact, I personally believe that there's something abnormal going on in a person's brain who can willingly and relentlessly murder people. But that's just my opinion - Genghis Khan could have very well been completely healthy. He certainly was intellectually.