Our Embarassing Apathy
Burma is burning. Most of Europe do not seem to care. There are not any reserves of petroleum or prospects of reconstruction in this impoverished land enough to titillate the rowdy crowd across the Atlantic pond. And it was never intended for Putingrad’s influence to reach that far in that sorry direction. Ergo, Burma burns and nobody seems to care.
I am not sure I know of a single place on earth that, having been touched by the scourge of British colonial greed and ghastly excesses that went along, is at peace now. There are a few in abject misery - Sudan, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Iraq. There are some that wish things were different - Nigeria, Ghana and some islands in the Caribbean. Yet others haven’t fared too bad - India, Egypt, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. The so-called white-settler colonies have done very well for themselves indeed - Canada, United States of America, Australia and New Zealand. What with slavery, forced labour, concentration camps, division along any line - religious, racial, color, language, ethnicity, gender, class or creed - convenient, slickly executed democide and complete lack of anything remotely resembling human rights, the scars inflicted over generations have proven near fatal to many of these nations. Burma, unfortunately, haven’t fared very well. Burma is burning.
I am sad that Burma is burning. I am shocked that the junta blatantly refuses to move with the times and accord their own people free will. I am furious that the rest of the world ignores the plight of Aung San Suu Kyi and her fellow Myanmars except for impotent, stuttering, meaningless drivel every time news of an atrocity reaches us. I am ashamed that the economically and militarily mighty Indian nation that has such cultural influence on the Myanmars stand by in passive indifference while the junta cocks an impudent nose at their collective tolerance. There has been some tepid noise in the media about how India sees their ‘fight-against-terrorism’ being aided by the junta in some weird way, but, this is just nonsense that not even the warmongers in Bush’s clique will buy. With what they have been trying to pull in Tibet, China would not understandably deem it terribly appropriate to take umbrage publicly - dirty money in their left hand while the priest is shaking their right hand - and they are too pragmatic to have a different opinion in private. Bangladesh has too much going on to do much about their neighbours. Myanmars are on their own, then.
Just yesterday, they murdered a Japanese photographer in cold blood. His life was the price he had to pay for the privilege of tenaciously ferrying information out of the junta’s media seal. They say a few dozen people more have laid their lives at the altar of freedom in another stunted uprising that seems to have been brutally put down, yet again. I am angry, but, much too cowardly and comfortable with my petty life to do anything of it.
If you, like me, are wallowing in forced membership of this emasculated existence club, there is reason to take heart. For some of the most powerful men, women and un-decideds on this planet are firmly entrenched members. Unlike us, of course, they have voluntarily chosen this miserable membership…
I am no William Wallace. But, I see a whole army of brave souls there in defiance of tyranny. They have risen to fight as free men and women. And free they will be! What will they do without freedom? Will they not fight? Buddhist monks against guns and truncheons? Yes! For, fight and they may die. Run and they may live at least awhile. But, dying in their bed many years from now, would they not be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for this one chance, just one chance, to rise as one and tell their enemies that they may take their lives but never their FREEDOM!
