Burma's first lady of freedom

"The chief foundation of all states, whether new, old or mixed are good laws and good arms. And as there cannot be good laws where there are not good arms and where there are good arms, there must be good laws. I will not now discuss the laws, but will speak of the arms.
Treaties between rulers are observed by means if arms and maintained only by them"

After reading a write-up on Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s first lady of freedom, I began thinking about Machiavelli’s principle. Aung San Suu Kyi, the 65-year-old Burmese Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was released from house arrest on Nov. 13. For 15 of the past 21 years, the Burmese military regime kept her locked up and this made her as the world's most famous political prisoner.

Suu Kyi’s enlightenment started in 1988 when she went home to care for her ill mother. An economic downfall caused protests against the current regime. Just as what was traditionally done, the army fired on the protesters, some of whom tried to fight back. As the daughter of the assassinated independence hero, Suu Kyi made her first public address about peace to prevent further clashes. Thus, the army heard nothing. Instead, they killed hundreds more.

On the side, 40% of the national budget is spent on the army, while just around 1% each is reserved for health and education. This is how things are when you prioritize arms over the health and education.

Suu Kyi release is a threat to the current government. The army has proved that they could easily imprison or endanger her life. In three different occasions, Suu Kyi and her supporters have been attacked by mysterious thugs with resulting fatalities. She is a walking time bomb. Suu Kyi echoes Machiavelli’s aim of the state, which is to survive.Machiavelli knew that it was characteristic of men to make use of laws and of beasts to make use of force. Is this the beast that he was talking about? I certainly think so. His belief in the necessity of arms was so strong that at times it caused him to exaggerate.

Machiavelli believes that the art of politics is combining law with force. Laws are not good, or rather they are ineffectual without arms; and arms are not good, that is they do not function without laws.Yet, the aim of the state is to survive; it should also vary according to the prevailing conditions of time, place and people. The world has long forgotten Burma. It is now time to help it survive. It needs a woman like Suu Kyi who voices out democracy over their bad laws and terrible army.