Sunday, July 22, 2007

The Power of the Powerless

She then brought up Vaclav Havel’s essay, “The Power of the Powerless”. Written about Czechoslovakia under Soviet rule, Havel’s words had relevance for the struggle in Burma as well. She said, ‘We need to understand that people who are not in power have their own power. Don’t think you don’t have any power just because you are not part of the power structure.’ She talked about how the regime made great efforts to demonstrate they had the support of the people, for instance by staging pro-government rallies which people were forced to attend. The regime, she said, was using the power of the people to prop up their own power structure. If people didn’t have power, the regime would not bother with them. She declared, “That is why we rely on the people. Because you have power. For that reason, we are openly requesting people-power from the people.’

Copied direct from “Living Silence” by Christina Fink, Chapter 4, Military Rule Continues.

Note: She = Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

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