The Proletariat Congress

The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything. ~ Stalin

Different political and democratic movements have been symbolised by different colours; different parties representing different ideologies fly under their own banners. The most recent and most notable is the Orange Revolution in Ukraine that swept Viktor Yushchenko into power.

Back in the year of 2003, the US led an invasion of Iraq, claiming that it would be welcomed and that the people longed for democracy, having languished under a brutal dictatorial regime for too long. The nation of Iraq was never ready for an American style democracy, and the government they elected is not entirely democratic either.

Meanwhile in another part of the world, a massive pro-democracy movement has gained momentum despite years of opposition from the ruling party. The pro-democracy movement of Burma (Myanmar) has been gaining since the largest crackdown on protesters happened in 1988. The ruling Junta (Spanish for “committee”) during the student protests of ’88 killed many, estimated in the thousands.

In Myanmar, there is an electricity to the air. The people have a yearning for democracy and the nation who could have brought it to its doorstep ignored the nation and went where it was ill-advised. They have taken to the streets in droves to protest the price inflation on fuel and other goods.

They have been joined by the highest spiritual authority in Myanmar, the monks. The monks serve the people and everyday make rounds; some bring their bowls with them to beg for alms. If the offering is rejected, the monk will turn his bowl upside down, meaning the person is ultimately spiritually damned.

The monks have very little and rely on the people for support who in turn look to the monks for their ultimate guidance. Even the Junta, who may be the ruling party, have a certain amount of respect for the monks and to ensure social order remains. The Junta grants the monks amenities, for which they hope will ensure the monks’ good graces.

But all that changed when the Junta realised that the monks held an incredible amount of real power over the people. That the monks could easily influence the people and help fuel the biggest democratic movement since 1988 when students and pro-democracy activists led protests against the Junta, demanding democratic freedoms.

The monks have led protests, with their numbers recorded at the peak as 100,000 before the Junta took action against the protestors by locking down the capital and driving the monks back into the temples; locking them in. With the monks barred in their temples, the Junta could clear the streets.

The protests got their life from the monks but without the monks protests have died down.

Fear keeps democracy from coming out of the ashes of ruins.

The people have grown silent as the monks are locked up and some have been killed.

Yet the people want democracy. It’s being denied to them by a violent Junta.

Meanwhile there is no room for democracy to grow and flourish unfettered in Iraq. Secretariat violence rules that country while it grows divided along religious and ethnic lines.

Democracy was brought in by people who didn’t know what the population wanted.

The population of Myanmar longs for that democracy; the democracy brought to Iraq at the tip of the gun’s barrel. They want the democracy that the Iraqis are failing to implement. They want the democracy that the American government says should be spread around the world but instead they are ignored. They offer nothing for those who can bring them democracy.

Tragically they are still waiting while their monks are tortured and killed. The monks who showed the people the way; the ones who lit the path to democracy.

Those who yearn for democracy see nothing but bloodshed and the internal gut of a dark unforgiving cell of political oppression and those who have democracy thrust upon them show no gratitude for the freedoms granted under such a system

Like rabbits, Buddhists are reincarnating at an alarming rate. It’s become such a problem that the Chinese government has decided it’s going to take drastic measures to ensure that this menace is curbed before a complete infestation of reincarnated Buddhists occurs. This is just an extension of the existing 1-child policy that pervades all elements of Chinese life. After all, there is nothing wrong with micro-managing the people; it’s just one of the prime characteristics of totalitarian authoritarianism. If a totalitarian government let its people think…

According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is “an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation.”

If a Buddhist wishes to reincarnate, he must first acquire permission from the Chinese government if he is to reincarnate in China.

This falls somewhere in the realm of absurd and asinine. This kind of policy makes Kansas look like a repository for elitist intellectualism. This is an attempt to censor thought, which is failure from the outset, as one cannot censor thought unless one knows it exists and one cannot know the existence of thought without said thought being expressed outwardly.

The Chinese government has this strange idea that it can control the spiritual realm… laughable at best. The spiritual is an abstract concept, as it is intangible to the world around us. It may or may not exist. Should it, it falls out of the jurisdiction of the living world, given existing philosophies surrounding it.

By barring any Buddhist monk living outside China from seeking reincarnation, the law effectively gives Chinese authorities the power to choose the next Dalai Lama, whose soul, by tradition, is reborn as a new human to continue the work of relieving suffering.

Further, reincarnation is selectively arbitrary, occurring when certain conditions are met. This won’t discourage the Chinese government though, which has for the last 50 or so odd years, since invading Tibet in the Himalayas tried to cut off the Dalai Lama from retaining his spiritual and political ties to the Tibetan population. If it cannot quash an idea then regulating it is the next best thing.

The Chinese government isn’t the only one who seems to think it can control reincarnation, the Dalai Lama himself has come out saying that he refuses to be reborn in Tibet until the nation is free from Chinese control. This is assuming that for the last 600 years he has been able to control where he is reincarnated…

Stupidity transcends all religious boundaries and doesn’t plague just Christians and Muslims.

China Regulates Buddhist Reincarnation

Across Europe people rejoiced, for the menace that had terrorised Europe had surrendered and just days earlier Adolf Hitler committed suicide as the Allied and Soviet forces marched on Berlin. This day became known as VE Day. This day was seen as the official day of German surrender despite that the Allied forces had taken parts of Germany earlier in May before making the push for Berlin.

We may allow ourselves a brief period of rejoicing; but let us not forget for a moment the toil and efforts that lie ahead. Japan with all her treachery and greed, remains unsubdued.

“We must now devote all our strength and resources to the completion of our task, both at home and abroad. Advance Britannia.” ~ Winston Churchill

World War II brought out both the worst and best in humanity as it pushed forth technology and allowed for the introduction of computers that would unite the world, but it also saw the creation of atomic technology, which remains the biggest threat to humanity today. It gave women more freedom but millions of lives were lost. It shaped the future of the world for better and for worse.

To compare the sacrifices of WWII to that of Iraq and Afghanistan is unfair to memory of those who fought against a true threat to the future of humanity.

“An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last.” – Winston Churchill

Back in 1938, the British, who had Neville Chamberlain at the helm as their Prime Minister, he sought to appease Nazi-German leader, Adolf Hitler by letting him take Sudetenland and Rhineland “back” and reunited them with Germany as part of the Anschluss plan.

The British didn’t learn from the mistake of appeasement. They are still keeling over to international powers in these times. First they bowed over backwards to make the Americans happy by showing they were serious about preventing hackers from working in their borders by deporting British citizen Gary McKinnon to the US for trial.

McKinnon had only infiltrated computers at the Pentagon that weren’t password protected and the tiny file he used to assist him in his endeavours couldn’t have cracked passworded systems. It was a file designed to sniff out computers that weren’t passworded. He had during his hearings pointed out that at the time he was browsing around on the Pentagon servers, he noticed other hackers sniffing around unlawfully as well.

The Pentagon’s servers have been vulnerable for a long time. But they haven’t been secured properly. In 1997, two California teens and three Israelis, including Ehud Tenenbaum had hacked into Pentagon servers. The Israelis in the end weren’t extradited but were tried by local authorities.

In recent days Russian tycoon and asylum seeker, Boris Berezovsky who is in the UK has spoken out against Putin’s administration, calling for bloodless change. Now the Kremlin wants Mr Berezovsky to be extradited to Russia to stand trial. However, isn’t free speech protected in the UK?

According to the Human Rights Act of 1998, it is.

Article 9, clause 1…

Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance.

Article 10, clause 1….

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers. This Article shall not prevent States from requiring the licensing of broadcasting, television or cinema enterprises.

With this, it is obvious that Berezovsky shouldn’t be extradited. After all, how many of us here in the west have thought of wanted to overthrow our current governments through sly means? Not everyone is happy with the governments in place and we rally for change even if politicians don’t listen to us.

Even if the Russians have a “case”, freedom of speech is protected in the UK. The Russian government can cry and whine all it want, but if Berezovsky’s only charge is that he is calling for bloodless change, there is no reason for him to be deported.

However, given the UK’s track record, he will no doubtfully get handed over to Russian authorities. Anything to appease it’s “allies”, even though it’s clear America would NEVER hand over one of its citizens willingly and Russia well, would likely do the same thing as America.

Of course, if the UK doesn’t hand him over, Berezovsky will become another corpse for Scotland Yard to clean up.

Russian presses UK on Berezovsky