After another day of marches in Burmese cities (the 8th, in case you're keeping score at home), several truckloads of troops and riot police filtered into Rangoon. Neither the soldiers nor the police dismounted - they stayed in the backs of the trucks and just let people take a look at them.The message seems pretty clear: The army is in town, the populace has been warned. Another march tomorrow will be met by... what? Blocked streets? Arrests? Gunfire?
The government wants to see what kind of stones the protest leaders (whoever they are) have. How committed are the monks to their cause? The general population? Does the whole "Saffron Revolution" collapse, or are there enough people there who are willing to walk, unarmed, into who-knows-what?
Wow. There's really no telling what happens tomorrow.
What would you do in this situation?
Imagine you're some random, spare Burmese dude or dudette, driving a taxi or selling vegetables in the market. You clearly remember 1988, when huge numbers of protesters took to the streets, Ne Win's government fell, Aung San's daughter returned and emerged as a leader to be reckoned with, change seemed within reach, and the army showed up in trucks, much like today. Only, back in 1988, the soldiers did dismount. They formed lines, shouldered weapons, released safeties, and, staring down the barrel at their fellow citizens, they opened fire on command. And 3,000 people, random, spare Burmese dudes and dudettes just like you, died.
Now here you are, 19 years later (almost to the day). Protests are gathering steam. The army is in town. It's Wednesday morning in Rangoon. You get out of bed, have some tea, and look at yourself in the mirror. What do you do? Do you stay inside, play it safe, live with what you've lived with for the past 19 years? Or do you lace up the Nikes and step outside?
We all like to think we'd go fall in with our fellow citizens, hit the streets, and see it through. I'm not so sure I'd have that kind of courage...
Stay tuned...
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