The Quietest Revolution Myanmar (Burma)

The Quietest Revolution - Mandalay, Myanmar

Worldwide | Sunday, October 17, 2010 | 5 photos

I had been to southeast Asia a couple times, but nothing could really prepare me for Myanmar. When a monk takes you into his rural open air home, and asks you with tired eyes, "How do we get democracy," you begin to realize how much you take for granted. The first rule of Myanmar is that you cannot talk about Myanmar. So, when this monk hurried us along through the hills of Sagaing, to find a private place to discuss Myanmar's future without fear of spies or stoolies, it was more a search for answers than a dialogue for the curious. As I gave him sporadic advice, it dawned on me that I could change the world with a pen and a camera. That an empire of words could possibly battle back legions of tyranny.

On our last night in Myanmar, we spent the evening watching Sex and the City while packing to head home. It felt about right. We were the world . Not now, HBO is on, we have no commercial break. Our attention must be undivided. Burmese democracy is no longer a real thing or even a foreseeable option. All the notion serves is a dialogue for the intelligent; something for Bono to sell with his image at a U2 show. It is a deserted monument in a forgotten town. It has been so far from normal for these people for so long, that their constant struggle has become normal. Their revolution is a cupped whisper in a Yangon thunderstorm. Goodbye Burma, I hope you find what you are looking for and are looking for what it is that you need to find. You need both really, and for the world to tune out to tune in.