Support for Burma

It is an odd emotional feeling, I can tell you, to write in support for a major international movement aiming at nonviolent change when you know no one is listening or reading. This is the situation we find ourselves in on this site, which no on reads, or, at least, does not comment on. Should this silence you? Should it stop you trying? No. We strive on. You never know who might eventually listen.
The current protests in Burma, thought to involve at least 100,000 people, represent just the kind of ethic the cosmopolitan movement supports and encourages and you can easily recognise the force and power visible on the world stage as a result of the nonviolent protest by the Burmese. This morning, we hear terribly worrying reports of a death of a protester at the hands of the military. It reminds us, if we ever need reminding, of the tragedy of losing a single human life and of the struggle facing these brave men and women. It is not an easy thing to recommend nonviolence and peaceful protest in the face of such abhorrent violence and repression. Yet, just as the marchers themselves seem to be resolved, we are certain the nonviolent movement carries with it more power, sustenance, support and depth than a violent one would. And it continues to win over world opinion day by day, standing, as it does, in stark contrast to the regime of the generals, over its absolute refusal to take human life and inflict injury. This is real power and real force. We offer them full support and call on the international community to give the peaceful protesters all the support it can to bring about a bloodless transition to a democratic form of government and a regime that recognises human rights and liberty. A regime to be brought about by the actions, and the will, of the Burmese people themselves.
Is it likely that the Burmese people would choose a form of communistic government, based upon absolute equal liberty? It is highly, highly, unlikely, but does this mean that we should not support them? This raises a central issue for the cosmopolitan movement. Of course it does not matter in the slightest. The first aim is always to end human suffering, injury and death. Whilst it is vital to recognise that violence and suffering are themselves brought about by conditions of inequality, there is a difference between the kind of repression suffered by the likes of the Burmese (together with many of their fellow humans in Darfur, the DRC, Chad, Zimbabwe and many other nations) and those who experience death and starvation at the hands of economic failure and financial ruin. This is not to lessen the struggle for equality, but can we honestly not give full, unconditional, support to regimes that call for the establishment of human rights and human freedom. We must, unconditionally, support such movements, especially if they adhere to the principles of nonviolent resistance. This is not about the cosmopolitan movement, about communism, about equal economic liberty or egalitarian conditions of freedom, but about human suffering.
All forms of human suffering must be ended immediately and unconditionally. And we must do all we can, all that is in our power as individual human beings, to help. And we must do it NOW! Repression does not wait for us to collect our thoughts and debate, whether that repression is economic or political in character.