So like everyone who’s tuned into what’s going on with this crazy ol’ earth beyond the red, white and blue borders of celebrity, sport, talent shows and farces; I’ve been following, as best anyone not there can, the situation in Burma. Such bizarre repression that still holds on to some cultural traditions that seem counter to it’s fascistic cause. The dynamic of the monks. First of all, I can’t completely wrap my head around monks getting political, but rarely it happens. The dramatic example of Thich Quang Duc comes to mind, but that can be seen as a statement of “this war is so absurd and senseless, and I’m not in the least bit attached to this shit anyway, so I’m gonna go out in a flaming protest”. But it’s different with these Burmese monks. By refusing alms they made the junta look bad and gave people faith. And as screwy and twisted as the junta dudes are: they couldn’t just shoot down the monks in front of everyone. Mao had no problem sending the red army into Tibet, sending the Dali Lama into exile, destroying monasteries, forcing male and female monks to copulate at gunpoint - total “we will crush your religion and spirit” tactics. But the Burma military types don’t even steal the gold off the pagodas. It’s as if they still believe, or at least can’t go all the way with atheism and selfish raw power - but surely they know they’re fuckin’ up. Perhaps they believe they hold enough power for the next several rounds of the wheel as well.

One angle you don’t hear being played up much is Burma is very much part of the Golden Triangle, which means opium, which means lots of money. When you hear Junta - think warlord. And just like there are warlords in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, Afghanistan off to the west, the difference here is these warlords ARE the govt. so don’t even have to pretend to play the “drug war” game. Total “Jibot” from ‘Supercop’, the cliche generals with the sunglasses waiting for Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh to bust in on their meeting hut.
On the other hand, there is a ‘time capsule’ element to their misguided stranglehold of power that is strangely appealing. They don’t represent some Kim Jong-il supervillian with an itchy trigger finger, who can’t wait to annex territories they feel were wrongly divided and start attacking neighbors. One wonders exactly what their power mad dreams entail: building more secret cities in the jungle and polishing their medals and sunglasses? Don’t they even have Kim Jong Il “short man’s common sense” and want to nail Swedish ho’s? Maybe they’re all strung out - think about it, it would explain much of the slowed response time and ‘logic’ behind their moves. Certainly alcohol, sleep deprivation and god knows what pharmaceuticals play a large role in the decision making processes of western leaders, not to mention the perceived guidance of Magic Toughguy Jesus for some…

I don’t mean to make lite of the situation over there though: certainly dozens if not hundreds are being killed and tortured right now as a result of events of last week. It just seems so strange how things seem to work there: the people have elected Aung San Suu Kyi - well, just keep her under house arrest. The monks are marching with the people in the streets - well, raid the monestaries at night, scare the shit out of the monks, then we can shoot into the crowds with a clear conscience. The world is watching and judging our rule - well, just turn off all the phones and the internet, seal up the borders tighter. How much longer into the future will govts. be able to get away with that one? Though as history has shown, and continues to: just because horrible things are known to be happening in the world, it doesn’t mean the rich “free” people are really gonna get off their asses and do anything. And even if they do -the myth of “democracy” sometimes only equals removing your dictator so you can get on with the clan war you’ve been stewing up for centuries…