&gt;<i>Unfortunately, that was a phrase used by Mao to flush out dissidents.</i><p>Yeah, I know -- there have been other historical breakdowns of the phrase in HN.<p>That said (and to be the usual pedant I am):<p>1) Even if it was used to flush out dissidents, it would be the abuse of the phrase for a sinister purpose that would be the bad thing, not the phrase itself.<p>2)It&#x27;s not that clear cut that Mao meant it in a cunning way. Even the link alludes to that: &quot;Whether or not it was a deliberate trap isn&#x27;t clear&quot;.<p>3) It&#x27;s not even that clear cut that Mao was in the wrong in the first place -- revolutions and changes to whole empires are frequently bloody and rarely judged like normal historical periods, especially when they involve civil war et al. If one man killed 2.000 men, women and children we&#x27;d consider them a batshit crazy serial killer. Someone like Truman though can order to kill 200.000 people in two Japanese towns and still be considered a legitimate leader, not even a war criminal by many.