Are we chasing the wrong problem?
I think we have been chasing the wrong problem all these years. If you look at history, when did the problem really begin?
Many people will have different opinions on this matter, but one of the biggest cultural shifts in the mainland Burmese power structure happened during King Mindon’s reign. He took too many wives and had too many children. This started one of the biggest power rivalries in Burmese history. The result was that nearly everyone got wiped out. One of the greatest tragedies was the death of Crown Prince Kanaung. Hsinbyumashin and her faction killed almost all capable people in order to grip power.
And one of the most critical points to note here is that the British had already colonized significant chunks of Burmese territory by then. Total colonization was becoming increasingly imminent. The Burmese dynasty should have been forging local alliances, industrializing the economy, and modernizing the army. Instead, what did they do? They killed each other.
As a child, when I first learned this history, I could not understand it. Why were they fighting among themselves when the enemy was already at the doorstep?
Guess what? What is happening in modern Myanmar feels exactly like that.
Not only the 2021 coup, but also many of the conflicts after independence seem to start from individuals trying to capitalize on whatever little power is available. No one thinks of the bigger picture—how to make the nation prosper, grow stronger, and build long-term power.
Myanmar is still trapped in the extraction-style economy of colonial times. Might is right. Take from others in order to grow. No one thinks about proportional power growth or actually making the nation stronger as a whole.
This type of power struggle culture, which stems from the dynastic period of the Konbaung era, is still deeply rooted in politics, society, and even culture.
I think General Aung San tried to fix this, but no one really knows, because he was assassinated long before he had the chance to shape the values of the newly formed state.
U Nu mismanaged the state and set some very bad precedents during the country’s early years. One clear example was the issue of state religion.
Ne Win and those who came after him gripped power and managed to mismanage the country even further. They damaged Burmese society the most. Yes, Ne Win and Than Shwe managed to preserve the Union, but at the cost of placing the whole nation under Tatmadaw colonization.
Daw Su is a more complicated case. I do not think her values were bad, but she was too liberal and could not really play Burmese politics effectively. Let’s just say she was too soft for this country to change. There was also a lot of corruption within her immediate circle, with some people allegedly using her reputation for personal gain. I honestly do not know whether she was aware of this or not.
The irony is that the Tatmadaw circle did not like Daw Su, because their corrupt wealth got stolen by NLD inner circle. Corruption may have improved slightly in some areas, but in the end, her crusade to remove the military from politics backfired, and she fell from grace.
So what can really be done?
I do not know.
The most obvious solution for Myanmar seems to be to erase the national political value of “might is right.” But how do you do that?
Only a person with enough power, but also enough humility, can do that.
And that is the chicken-and-egg problem. Sometimes all we need is a single person or maybe a group to look up the sky and realize why the f are we fighting for scrap when we can be so much more together. And that simple moment still doesn’t happen.
Constructive criticisms are always welcome.