Tag: National League for Democracy

Achieving and maintaining democracy—“government of the people, by the people, for the people”[i]–is an ongoing challenge.

Perhaps President Lincoln had no alternative to preserving the Union than to wage war, but the wounds of that deadly conflict can still be felt today.

Where are the models for better ways of resolving disputes, righting wrongs, and pursuing democratic institutions?

Our nomination, in honor of this year’s United Nations International Day of Democracy (Sept. 15), is Aung San Suu Kyi.

Suu Kyi is the Burmese woman who:

• founded the National League for Democracy in Burma (now Myanmar),
• stood up to the military junta controlling the country
• was under house arrest for 15 years for agitating for democracy
• rejected the junta’s offer to give her freedom if she would leave the country
• embraced the non-violent principles of Mohandas K. Gandhi
• delegated to her sons the responsibility to accept the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to her in 1991 while she was under house arrest
• was released from confinement in 2010
• was elected to the national parliament in 2012
• gave her own acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2012

Here are two of Suu Kyi’s thoughts about democracy:

“To view the opposition as dangerous is to misunderstand the basic concepts of democracy. To oppress the opposition is to assault the very foundation of democracy.”
― Letters from Burma

“It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”
― Freedom from Fear

Please tell us what you think: Are these views as applicable to the US as they are to Myanmar and other countries emerging from military dictatorships?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology