WEBVTT - The Troubled Border of Myanmar, Chapter One: A Peaceful History. A Terrifying Present. 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:04.720 From UFOs to psychic powers and government conspiracies. History is 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:09.119 riddled with unexplained events. You can turn back now or 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:12.160 learn the stuff they don't want you to know. A 0:00:12.240 --> 0:00:13.960 production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.320 Hello, welcome back to the show. My name is Matt. 0:00:27.360 --> 0:00:30.400 Our colleague Nol is on an adventure but will be 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:31.400 returning shortly. 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:34.680 They call me Ben. We're joined as always with our 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:39.199 super producer, Dylan the Tennessee pal Fagan. Most importantly, you 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:43.120 are you. You are here. That makes this the stuff 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:46.760 they don't want you to know. There is a civil 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.800 war happening right now as we record. 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.440 This evening in the United. 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:57.800 States, well not yet as we record, but depending on 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:01.360 when you listen to this episode or a possible series 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:06.679 of episodes, your mileage may vary. There's a fascinating case, 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.640 in a heartbreaking case of civil war that's been going 0:01:09.680 --> 0:01:14.280 on since twenty twenty or so out in Me and. 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:19.160 Mar oh yes, formerly Burma if you even if you 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:21.440 check it out on Google Maps, it says me and 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:27.360 Mar and then like Burma. Also. Yeah. We learned about 0:01:27.400 --> 0:01:30.520 this a little while back. I think it was sometime 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.679 in August of this year. We learned about it from 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:36.360 a listener who called themselves surf Rider, and we still 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:38.640 are unsure if it's writ er. 0:01:38.800 --> 0:01:43.760 Or rider, but either way, surf writer, thank you again. 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:46.800 We said we would follow up with an episode on 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.240 this and Matt, could you tell us a little bit 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:53.320 more about what surfrider or writer was talking about. 0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:57.600 Surf Wright was specifically talking about criminal organizations that were 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:00.440 functioning on the border of Me and Mar, like basically 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:03.360 all the way all around the border of Me and Mar, 0:02:03.520 --> 0:02:07.520 but specifically around one river. I think you say moa 0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:16.360 river MOEI And it's basically apartment complexes, eat love, prey, 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:21.080 places where it's self contained. Basically, if you live in 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:23.720 one of these places, you just stay there. And out 0:02:23.760 --> 0:02:26.839 of these places, there's a lot of organized crime and 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.040 human trafficking where people are basically shipped in to function 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:36.240 there as cogs in a big old I guess scam. 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:41.360 Chain scam, slave farms. Yeah, we've explored. You know, mean 0:02:41.440 --> 0:02:45.399 Mar is familiar to a lot of people aka Burma, 0:02:45.480 --> 0:02:48.440 but there's a lot more that escapes the attention of 0:02:48.480 --> 0:02:51.679 the West. It's a story of crime, conspiracy, and chaos 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:56.520 all spiraling out of control along the border of Myanmar 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.360 and much of the rest of the world seems to 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:05.240 will ignore the growing chaos. The world collectively looked at 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.040 the problem just like someone who sees a vagrant asking 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.480 for change at a traffic light. They made a passing 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.400 glance at me, Ammar, and they said, I have other 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:18.160 stuff to do. Well, guess what, folks, we don't. That's 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:19.000 our cold open. 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.200 Our Friday is fully open. Here we go. 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:34.480 Here are the facts. Okay, so it's interesting. We've been, 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:38.760 arguably Matt going through kind of a phase in exploring 0:03:38.880 --> 0:03:42.480 mysteries and conspiracies in this region of the world, in 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:46.080 Southeast Asia. Wasn't too long ago that we talked about 0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:49.960 the plane of jars, and thank you to our conspiracy 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:54.119 realist who wrote in to correct us and say, actually, 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:59.040 these don't look like cauldrons or jars, these look like crocs. 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:01.920 See ours? Really? 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.000 Yeah, I don't know, I saw some pictures. 0:04:05.680 --> 0:04:09.120 You wrote a fantastic matter of fact, let's pull up 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:12.320 the name. You wrote such a fantastic letter to us. 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:16.279 Held off on answering it because. 0:04:16.640 --> 0:04:19.320 We are saying crock pots like the thing my mom 0:04:19.440 --> 0:04:22.440 used to make pot roast in Yes, okay, yeah, well, 0:04:22.560 --> 0:04:28.080 what are we saying that just crocs. I don't know. 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:29.280 Is that a brand name. 0:04:29.760 --> 0:04:32.520 I'm unsure, like that time we got in trouble for 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.200 saying Frisbee instead of I just know. 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.039 Do you plug them in? They're electric and they make 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:41.080 potatoes real nice and good. 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.240 I love it. I love I have an emotional you have, 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.440 you know how I like? I have three emotions a 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:50.000 year or something. One of those is affection for my crockpot. Yeah, 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:51.760 which is sorry, Grandma. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:53.680 Just cook a little and slow baby. 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.839 That is caddyewampus. By the way, what is caddy wanting? 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:04.760 Caddywampus is the wrote oh about the difference between cauldrons, jars, 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:09.359 and crocs, to which we say caddy. That's a croc. 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:13.480 Yeah, that's a krak of caddywamp as vases. 0:05:13.320 --> 0:05:16.400 Yes, there we go, they're vases. So the plane of 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:20.280 jars and Laos the mystery has not been solved. Myanmar, though. 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:23.520 If you've looked at the map from our previous exploration 0:05:23.560 --> 0:05:27.839 of Laos, you'll see that Myanmar parentheses Burma is just 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:29.760 to the west of Laos. 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:33.880 Yeah, and it borders a ton of countries. The border 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:36.479 that it shares with Laos is fairly small compared to 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.320 like Thailand, which is right south. 0:05:39.120 --> 0:05:41.920 The whole peninsula base right split in half exactly. 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:45.480 But then you've also got China, what Bangladesh? And aren't 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:48.360 there is there more? Is it just mostly India? India too? 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:49.640 Gosh? 0:05:49.839 --> 0:05:53.400 So they are they? Well, that's why, that's why this 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:58.640 episode is so complicated and interesting and potentially impactful, because 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:02.640 that the land that makes up me and mar potentially 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.560 has influence on so many other countries. 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:09.920 One hundred percent And well said. You know, some conspiracy 0:06:09.960 --> 0:06:14.920 realist of a certain age may recall when this country 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:18.520 changed its name, because it didn't change its name to 0:06:18.600 --> 0:06:24.120 Myanmar until nineteen eighty nine. Wow. Yeah, most famously when 0:06:25.400 --> 0:06:30.960 Marvel Comics published a new edition of their encyclopedia. 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.200 Oh wow, I remember it. 0:06:33.320 --> 0:06:35.159 That's the other thing that happened. Those are the two 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:36.480 I did. 0:06:37.640 --> 0:06:39.680 But yeah, I remember when I was six years old 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.239 and looked at at the old TV and they said 0:06:42.560 --> 0:06:46.120 Burma is now Myanmar, and I was like, I'll remember 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:47.359 this for the rest of my life. 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:52.960 And they might be giants later really missed the ball 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.159 on that one, didn't They too much focus on Turkey? 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.400 But okay, names aside, people have been living in this 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:03.320 area since far before we started calling it what we 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.680 call it today. The first human settlers appeared on this 0:07:06.880 --> 0:07:09.640 central plaine because there are plains and there are hills, 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:13.560 and the people are often called like the plains people 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.880 or the hill people. The first humans were there eleven 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:19.320 thousand years ago. And I love what you brought up there, 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.560 Matt about it's the luck of the draw in the 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.880 geography here. It's been a nexus point for all kinds 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:30.640 of exchanges. I mean, it's sandwiched in between these two 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.600 homes to ancient civilizations India and China. They're always trying 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:38.120 to spend, like send stuff to each other, yes, sometimes 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:39.360 send wars to each. 0:07:39.200 --> 0:07:43.760 Other sometimes and expand their borders, but often they're attempting 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:46.680 to trade because in order to fight wars and other 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:49.400 parts of the world, you have to have a significant 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:53.200 amount of money coming in, usually via trade. Yeah, I 0:07:53.240 --> 0:07:56.760 want to just quickly talk about that eleven thousand years number, because, 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.360 like we've talked about on the show numerous times, that 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:01.960 is the best evidence we have right now of human 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.200 beings living in that area, right so, and we are 0:08:05.240 --> 0:08:09.200 discovering year over year that human beings have been around 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:14.280 doing stuff for way longer than we even think or expected. 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:17.880 It changes every year, just like the nomination for world's 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:21.240 oldest person, that's the world record with the most turnover. 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.960 I think that's a really good point, Matt, because when 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:28.920 we say whenever we say evidence indicates humans, we're in 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.760 so and so or doing so and so by x 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:35.480 amount of time, it means that's when we found physical evidence. Yes, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.880 and the world is hungry, especially this part of the world. 0:08:39.920 --> 0:08:45.040 It eats the creations of man, including human remains so hungry, 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:49.600 so so famished. Tune into our later episode, by the way, 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:55.720 on the future of poop. Just always be closing, always 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:57.040 be closing, you know it is. 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.360 It's the type of side hustle I never expected. But 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:02.920 it is like a gift once you realize that you 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:07.000 can sell your own poop if you're diligent enough. Yes, 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.400 or Dylan Genta enough. Oh gosh, he could sell his 0:09:10.440 --> 0:09:12.760 poop right now, like today, I will. 0:09:12.880 --> 0:09:15.520 Yeah, I think we're going to leave this in. I 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.640 would I'm not saying one hundred percent sold, but I 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.480 would love to read some literature and hear the pitch. 0:09:22.679 --> 0:09:27.360 Oh yeah yeah. And also just a quick shout out 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:29.640 to Dylan. We could leave this part at Dylan is 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.520 the guy who taught me that you can eat cheetos 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.160 with chopsticks. What to keep your fingers clean. 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.640 That seems like a lot of work but also kind 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:39.040 of fun. 0:09:39.480 --> 0:09:44.559 So everybody's got a weird side hustle. Anyway, it's our segue, 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.640 and we're going to talk about some dangerous side hustles 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.560 for now. What you need to know is, once upon 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.680 a time, this place that we call mean Mar today, 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:59.320 it had a massive reputation for surrounding countries. Records from 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:03.520 China show that from the first century BCE to the 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:07.400 ninth century Common era there was something called the Pew 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:12.840 Government Pyu and we're not native speakers, so partner pronunciation. 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:17.520 This government. They didn't have prisons, they didn't have slaves, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:21.360 they had quote no fetters or chains. And for the 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:25.199 rare criminals who got in trouble with this benevolent government, 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.040 the only punishment was quote a few strokes of a whip, 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.319 which surely still hurt. 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.200 Like yeah, dickens, but well, I mean strokes of a whip 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:37.280 that would that's like tearing flesh right for sure, and 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.720 it's way in my mind, it's way worse than maybe 0:10:40.720 --> 0:10:44.439 some of at least the rumors and then actual policies 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.040 in Singapore of the caning that we heard about a 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:47.800 long time ago. 0:10:48.320 --> 0:10:51.679 Yeah, it's a different thing too. But caning's very damaging. 0:10:51.800 --> 0:10:55.120 Yes, not good, but not the same as the velocity 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:56.839 that a whip attains when it. 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.199 Not the same laceration potential. 0:11:00.040 --> 0:11:01.000 That's a good way to put it. 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.680 Yeah, yeah, I think that's true. And also it depends 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:07.839 where you hit people. Like the old maritime punishment or 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:12.160 torture and was also used on enslaved people is bastinado when. 0:11:12.080 --> 0:11:16.000 They would put you in like a box of scorpions. No, no, no, no, no, no, 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:17.160 that's just hook. 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.480 Okay, I think that's just hook. But it is a 0:11:20.480 --> 0:11:23.600 great idea, very fear factor. No, that's where they beat 0:11:23.640 --> 0:11:26.680 the bottom of the feet. Oh yeah, because it hurts 0:11:26.720 --> 0:11:31.200 a lot and it prevents you from it lowers your mobility. Yeah, 0:11:31.480 --> 0:11:34.800 it's evilly well thought out. We're going to see some 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:37.400 of that anyway. We need to know this. Despite mean 0:11:37.520 --> 0:11:42.280 Mar's modern day reputation, earned or unearned, it had a 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:46.280 much longer reputation in the past, being a very peaceful place. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.560 It was pretty extraordinary both back then and in the 0:11:49.600 --> 0:11:52.560 modern day. But it's no longer the case because Matt, 0:11:53.440 --> 0:11:56.280 like we said, with an exus point where you can 0:11:56.360 --> 0:12:00.920 be a facilitator of cultural exchange, you also have a 0:12:00.920 --> 0:12:03.000 lot of people hungry for your real estate. 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:05.840 Oh for sure. And you essentially cross a river and 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.800 then you're in me and Mar from any you know, 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:12.920 any direction, unless you're coming in from the Bay of Bengal. Yeah, 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:16.920 you're just you're strolling through the place. And empires surely did. 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:20.160 Some of them just came through, you know, like rolled 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.000 through and caused some damage and some chaos. Others stuck around, 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:26.120 like I believe it was it was Japan that stuck 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:29.720 around for quite a while and officially occupied the place. 0:12:30.040 --> 0:12:34.599 But you also had companies that were de facto countries, 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:40.280 like the British what was it, the British East India Company. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:43.240 not great. Who else is in there? Oh, mongol the 0:12:43.320 --> 0:12:48.319 Mongolian invasions that occurred, and not just one. There's a 0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:50.400 whole bunch of conflict that's been going on there for 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:52.920 a long time. It's another one of those places where 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:57.559 I've never had Me and Mar specific cuisine or like Burmese, 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.000 but I imagine it's an They're one of those places 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:03.319 in the world where there's so many different influences from 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:06.640 all of the strife, but also people who get displaced 0:13:06.679 --> 0:13:10.000 there and then stay there. I would love to see whatever. 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:13.680 Whatever the cuisine, I don't know what you would call it, 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:15.520 but whatever the Me and Mark cuisine is, I want 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:15.760 to try. 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.360 They usually call it Burmese cuisine. Yeah, I've I don't. 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:23.400 Our best bet for you and Dylan and myself would 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.800 be to go to Beauford Highway and just roll the dice, 0:13:26.120 --> 0:13:27.000 which I love doing. 0:13:27.240 --> 0:13:29.360 Just ask around, just ask around. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:32.360 Be cool. But I have tried it in other parts 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.000 of the world and you nailed it because it's a 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:39.120 It's almost like Peruvian cuisine in that there are so 0:13:39.240 --> 0:13:43.360 many other influences that they're great curries. I know you 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:44.000 love a curry. 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:44.800 Yeah so. 0:13:46.480 --> 0:13:49.040 And I also know that every time we talk about 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.920 a far flung country, we have to talk about the food. 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:54.600 Yeah. Sorry, I didn't mean it's. 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.040 Important, man. And also I think maybe both of us 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:04.040 skipped breakfast. I know, but we know for sure that 0:14:04.120 --> 0:14:09.160 the British East India Company famously asks, well, just walk 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.480 out the street for that one. But we also know 0:14:11.559 --> 0:14:16.200 that to your point, mat after amid Japanese occupation, the 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:20.960 country we now call Mianmar declared its independence in nineteen 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:25.880 forty seven with the Burma Independence Act of nineteen forty seven. 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:29.240 Not the most creative name, but an awesome idea. We're 0:14:29.280 --> 0:14:34.480 all about independence. Problem is when a country moves out 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:39.040 of occupation or colonialism and becomes independent, it is also 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:45.120 at one of the most vulnerable periods in its history. 0:14:45.480 --> 0:14:50.440 The time after immediate independence is very, very dicey. 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.800 Oh, I mean, well, it's it's such a difficult thing 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:58.480 to do. You're trying to establish what the government looks 0:14:58.520 --> 0:15:01.160 like and how it functions right in this independent nation. 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.160 You also need a strong enough military to defend that 0:15:04.280 --> 0:15:07.400 nation and or gain independence from whoever you know is 0:15:07.440 --> 0:15:10.640 occupying your nation that you want to build. But then 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:14.000 you've got to be really careful with that military, make 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:16.600 sure it's not too powerful and it doesn't want to 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.880 just take the reins and decide what happens or doesn't 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:21.240 happen in your new country. 0:15:22.040 --> 0:15:25.400 Exactly. Yeah, that is the Oh, you nailed it. That 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:30.160 is one of the trickiest parts, especially of any kind 0:15:30.200 --> 0:15:36.560 of representative democracy, any kind of you know, even constitutional monarchy, 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:39.080 where there is some kind of voice for the people, 0:15:39.560 --> 0:15:43.800 it has to exist in conjunction with the military. And 0:15:43.800 --> 0:15:48.640 that's why so many constitutions separate what the military can 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:53.680 and cannot do with civilians. And that's also why militaries 0:15:53.720 --> 0:15:57.720 have such a reputation for being compromised, especially in post 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:05.120 colonial countries. Cough Wagner, cough cough Africa, cough cough everywhere. 0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.480 Right now side gigs, we were talking about you know 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:12.440 what I mean, some people sell poop, other people sell nations. 0:16:13.000 --> 0:16:19.040 Hi, I specialize in private special operations, I mean party, 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:21.400 I mean gigs. 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:25.480 I'm a tourist, I'm a consultant. I would love to 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:29.280 have a conversation with the colonel. 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:33.560 Yeah, it's cool, it's cool. We're just totally I'm just 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:37.240 gonna go on the roof or in the basement with 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:41.480 this suitcase. Yeah, and everything's cool. But it really is 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:44.680 a it's a it's a messed up thing that everybody 0:16:44.720 --> 0:16:46.680 has to do because in the end, it's ideas, and 0:16:47.040 --> 0:16:49.680 when you're forming a new government, especially you know, in 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.760 revolt of some existing thing, you got to make sure 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:55.160 everybody's on the same page. And how in the heck, 0:16:55.200 --> 0:16:58.440 do you get everybody on the same page. It's not possible. 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:02.240 Some people are going to think differently than whoever the 0:17:02.960 --> 0:17:07.560 founders are right, and if they've got weapons and know how, 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:09.520 then you could be in trouble. 0:17:09.840 --> 0:17:15.280 And often the so called agents of revolution just want 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:20.160 to have the same terrible operation, the same horrific machine, 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:22.120 but they want to be the one at the lever 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:23.840 which makes it now good. 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:26.639 Yeah, there sure is. There are a lot of goods 0:17:26.680 --> 0:17:30.159 going through this specific port, on this specific border. It 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.480 should sure would be nice if I was the one, 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.399 you know, taking the bribes every time the illegal goods 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:36.080 went across. 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:40.400 Yeah, that's what people in the world of nation states. 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:43.240 That's often what people mean when they say they solved 0:17:43.280 --> 0:17:47.800 a problem. They mean now they are profiting from the 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:51.919 earlier problem, because that's what they were solving for anyway. 0:17:51.960 --> 0:17:55.240 So what we're saying is it makes sense. Unfortunately that, 0:17:55.400 --> 0:17:58.720 like so many other countries in the region, modern day 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.560 Meanmar has been best with its own struggles inner turmoil, 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:10.159 foreign intervention continues, government upheavals violence, it's continuing unrest and 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:14.320 conflict to this day. And that's because just less than 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:20.520 two decades after independence, it's nineteen sixty seven and the 0:18:20.520 --> 0:18:31.800 military does a coup d'ta. Yeah, they just come in. 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:37.119 Perhaps it was their idea, but maybe maybe. 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:43.480 But again, there's so much potential influence. Yeah, yeah, there's 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.560 so much potential influence. And we do have to say 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:51.040 mentioned it earlier, specifically influenced from India and China, because 0:18:51.080 --> 0:18:54.639 they are the two most populous countries in the world 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:59.320 and they're also two of the most powerful. In India 0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:03.840 is definitely, I mean, it's up there, don't I don't 0:19:03.880 --> 0:19:07.480 know if you can say the number four most powerful 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:10.280 or whatever. But India has a lot of strength, a 0:19:10.320 --> 0:19:13.400 lot of military mind might in a lot of technology. 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:17.120 China has the same. So it you can imagine even 0:19:17.200 --> 0:19:20.880 back in sixty seven, that influence there. 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:25.320 Is possible, incredibly strong. And let's not forget that there 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:29.000 is still at that point, there are still post colonial 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.679 forces from the game that are involved. There's still you know, 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.879 like shout out to BRIDGERD. Kipling's Kim, you know, the 0:19:35.920 --> 0:19:38.600 Brits are still there in some capacity, and of course 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:43.000 sixty seven you've got French Indo, China, you've got the 0:19:43.200 --> 0:19:46.320 US definitely not being there. 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.000 Yeah, the US was not a part of any of that. 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:53.760 Uh uh no, no, nor was the Soviet Union in 0:19:53.880 --> 0:19:54.520 any way. 0:19:54.720 --> 0:19:58.719 Shame on you for these unfounded allegations. But yeah, for 0:19:58.800 --> 0:20:02.719 one reason or another, this military Coupjata. We're not oversimple. 0:20:03.040 --> 0:20:05.560 We don't want to oversimplify a lot led to it. 0:20:05.640 --> 0:20:09.439 We do clearly suspect for an intervention of some sort, 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:15.240 the military dictatorship ends up ruling more or less the 0:20:15.280 --> 0:20:19.159 same up to now, up to twenty twenty four, is 0:20:19.160 --> 0:20:26.080 we record this spoiler, they're super duper weird. I'm just 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:31.679 an observation. They're very into astrology. Oh yeah, yeah to 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.360 Burmese astrology. It's the reason they moved the capitol. 0:20:35.000 --> 0:20:38.320 That's amazing on it. I have not encountered that in 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.760 any of the research today. I'm gonna look into that 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:44.840 after this, and we all should, because that is fascinating. 0:20:44.880 --> 0:20:46.600 That's a whole episode I want to know. 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:49.479 Yeah, but we should totally do that, and before we 0:20:49.680 --> 0:20:52.040 uh what do you call it? Before we seem as 0:20:52.080 --> 0:20:55.280 though we are casting aspersion here, Let's also keep in 0:20:55.320 --> 0:21:00.880 mind that former US presidents have had court astrologers, Oh yeah, 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:02.480 which is basically a magician. 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:04.400 Gosh, that's exciting. 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:06.719 At that point, and we're not saying there's anything wrong 0:21:06.920 --> 0:21:09.919 with astrology, western or other derivations. 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.440 Yeah. You know, if I ever become president, I'm gonna 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.520 have like a court Duncan Trussell who's just there to 0:21:16.600 --> 0:21:19.000 be like, we got a finger moouth of this man. 0:21:19.240 --> 0:21:21.560 And I'll be like, oh, Duncan, you're. 0:21:21.520 --> 0:21:24.680 Right, I'm gonna just have a straight up court magician. 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:27.800 Oh okay, no, wait, We'll have a court magician like 0:21:27.840 --> 0:21:30.840 a Copperfield is this your card kind of guy? And 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:33.919 then we'll have a court sorcerer and it'll have to 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:36.160 be the weirdest person we could find. 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:41.240 I'm gonna get. I'm gonna get officially a new position 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:43.960 in the West Wing called the West Wing Warlock. And 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:46.960 I love it. And he he just haunts the place. 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:50.720 Okay, yes, yeah, I love it. I love it. Wesley 0:21:51.080 --> 0:21:55.000 West Wing Warlock. Let's hope his name's Wesley. 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:56.240 We just call him w. 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:01.200 Didn't some guy already get that nick? I think so, well, 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.400 we'll cast him then if he's already got the nickname, he's. 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.200 Just he's just in this Oh, he's in his sanctum 0:22:07.200 --> 0:22:09.120 in the West Wing, just painting. 0:22:08.840 --> 0:22:12.840 Just painting weirdly intimate pictures of himself. Oh I love 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.760 it in the top. That's that's the real magic. It's 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:17.680 the paintings we made along the way. 0:22:18.600 --> 0:22:20.040 Oh wow, I don't know how we got here, and 0:22:20.080 --> 0:22:20.640 it's my fault. 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:23.880 And here you know, we're gonna magic it back because 0:22:24.160 --> 0:22:27.040 look as crazy and I kind of derail this on that, 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:31.000 as crazy as it sounds. Yes, the leadership of Myanmar 0:22:31.240 --> 0:22:35.240 is what we call a military junta. There aren't really elections. 0:22:35.680 --> 0:22:39.080 Every time there is an election and the people have 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.160 spoken or you know, the upper middle class or whatever 0:22:42.240 --> 0:22:47.359 is spoken, then boom, boom boom, there's another coup, a 0:22:47.440 --> 0:22:52.440 cuckoo coup, right, and this happens again and again. They 0:22:52.520 --> 0:22:56.440 crush opposition. In the case of the twenty twenty general election, 0:22:57.560 --> 0:23:03.080 it didn't go their way. They pointed Anjong Sansuki, who 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:09.160 is a world famous activist, and when the election didn't 0:23:09.200 --> 0:23:12.760 go their way, the military, known as the Tatma dal H, 0:23:12.960 --> 0:23:17.160 staged another coup. And part of the turmoil we're in now, 0:23:18.359 --> 0:23:20.399 this civil war that begins in the wake of this 0:23:20.520 --> 0:23:23.680 other coup, is because of the point we raised earlier. 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:27.200 There's a lot of ethnic diversity. This is not this 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:31.520 is not near as homogeneous a place as say Norway 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:32.119 or Japan. 0:23:33.320 --> 0:23:37.600 No, No, it's weird to talk about this, but fifty 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:41.480 six percent are Burmese, which is like, I was born here, 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:43.840 I grew up here, I know everything here, I speak 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:45.919 the language I am a I am. 0:23:45.760 --> 0:23:48.840 Burmese, similarly like Han Chinese exactly. 0:23:49.640 --> 0:23:51.800 But then the rest, I mean, the rest is just 0:23:51.800 --> 0:23:54.520 split up between all of these different cultures that have 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:55.639 gone through the area. 0:23:55.920 --> 0:23:57.560 The Karen, the San. 0:23:58.040 --> 0:23:59.040