The Revolution Will Be With You Shortly…
Cyclone Nargis, which tore a path through Burma last week, might end up being the straw that breaks the camel’s back, assuming the camel is the brutal military regime that ‘runs’ the country, and the straw is a horrifying death that climbs even higher as the useless generals sit on their asses and wonder what to do.
According to some reports, there are hundreds of tons of food, medicine, and supplies just waiting, sitting on the runway in neighbouring countries (even in Italy), but without permission to enter the country, there’s little they can do but wait. I just read that one of the few UN flights that has been allowed to drop off supplies saw the food and water they left get intercepted by the authorities, and will never make it to the people who need it most. What a total travesty.
One heartbreaking quote I read was from a Burmese victim of the cyclone, who said that when they wanted freedom, the military was all too happy to show up, shoot some people, kidnap some monks and beat people up – but when hundreds of thousands of people are starving and/or dead, the military is nowhere to be seen.
I’m no political scientist or sociologist, but it strikes me that, in a situation like this, the entire country must be on a razor’s edge. Despite the huge crowds at government rallies in Burma (the crowds are ‘asked’ to show up, and if they don’t, they know that they might not have a family to go home to), the government there is universally reviled. They’ve left their citizens to starve, have refused international aid, and have offered some very lame help in the wake of the storm.
If I was Burmese, I’d snap.
What have they got to lose? You have no home, no food, no money… maybe your family has been killed or is missing, you’re sleeping outside on a patch of dirt with only a thin blanket to protect you from the elements, and you’ve been beaten down, subjugated and denied basic human rights your whole life, while your government spends obscene amounts of money on parties, weddings and unnecessary new capital cities. How much worse can it get?
This could very well be a defining time for Burma. The coming weeks will say a lot about how much the Burmese can take. They’ve already taken loads more than I ever could. As harsh as it is to say, I hope they do rise up and get the ball rolling, even though it will undoubtedly mean many more deaths, but it’s a chance that many may be willing to take. After all, it was Thomas Jefferson who said, “A little revolution is a good thing.”
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Considering the age of the Generals they probably remember the consequences of American ‘aid’ and the resultant political nightmares that ensued in Myanmars closest neighbours.
Just consider what American ‘Aid’ brought to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos not so many years ago, also remember that the US backed Pol Pot to overthrow the Cambodian Government and even continued supporting him whilst he was running S-21 and the killing fields.
Thinking about it, if I was in charge of a SE Asian country, I’d be highly suspicious of Empire America’s motives…