In Episode 191 [9] of the CounterVortex podcast [10], Bill Weinberg revisits George Orwell's first novel, Burmese Days [11] (1935), to see if it offers any insight into the current crisis in Burma. The novel is actually problematic in its portrayal of the Burmese, but Orwell's anti-colonialist views are better articulated in his little-known 1929 essay "How a Nation is Exploited: The British Empire in Burma [12]." Ironically, the factors he identified as necessitating "despotic" rule by the British in Burma still mandate dictatorial methods [13] by the regime today—such as the imperative to pacify "frontier areas" where indigenous peoples wage pro-autonomy insurgencies [14]. Listen on SoundCloud [9] or via Patreon [15].
Production by Chris Rywalt [18]
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