It is a disturbing and paradoxical theme in our culture to hold the pacifistic revolutionaries of the past in the highest esteem while learning nothing from their legacies.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a great opportunity for a barbecue, maybe even some bocce ball. How about celebrating that same holiday while this country is in the midst of a war of preemptive, jingoistic aggression? Better have one more beer.
But the next 500 words really aren’t meant as a diatribe on fun-loving Americans who don’t read newspapers.
The events of this last week throughout the country of Myanmar have brought to light not only the ever-broadening corruption of the former British colony, but also the power of active nonviolence and the sway of a socially dynamic religious and philosophical outcry.
In a surprisingly fortunate intersection of late-breaking news and in-depth analysis, Transparency International just released its 2007 findings concerning 180 countries around the globe, ranking the level of corruption and political oppression on a scale of 1 to 10. Myanmar had the dubious honor of sharing the No. 1 slot with perennial human-rights abuser Somalia.
Nineteen years ago, the masses took to the streets in what was then known as Burma to protest the military rule of the time. As the demonstration escalated, thousands were gunned down while thousands more fled into the relative safety of the nearby jungles. It was during this period of tumult that the current military junta seized power and began an era of sporadic stabilization coupled with continuing human-rights abuses and rampant political and social oppression.
Another voice emerged alongside the iron fist of Gen. Saw Maung during these years — Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Belayed by growing public support, Suu Kyi pushed for an end to military rule and the adoption of democracy. This led to her eventual downfall, culminating in a years-long house arrest.
However, the seeds of unrest have remained in Myanmar, with the international eye turning toward the distressed nation in the form of watchdog agencies. Now, for the first time in nearly two decades, the people have once again erupted in protest, bolstered by the Buddhist monks at the forefront of the possible revolution. Preliminary reports of Wednesday’s violence estimate a casualty rate of between two and seven — all protesters. Obviously, tear gas alone will not be enough to stifle the dissidents of the country. After all, the oppressor can resist only so long if its argument is bereft of an elemental truth.
In the spirit of King, Gandhi and successful student-led movements from Haiti to Thailand, these monks have paved the way to change for their followers of religious and political stripe. These leaders have inspired movement in the people of Myanmar through courage and the realization that subservience and silence fundamentally undermine hope. Dictatorships not only spawn, but flourish in the face of hopelessness — something even the industrial superpowers of the world would be well-served to remember.
