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wake up, smell coffee



Dawn Star,

There's no need to take this patronizing tone, which you seem to take with a 
lot of people. You may think you're the conscience of the movement, but 
you're not. So chill.

First: I have complete admiration for James, and consider him a friend. More 
importantly, he's totally committed. He chained himself to Burma and threw 
away the key. I say "poor James" because he showed the way, and no one 
followed. We chickened out. How can you talk about "solidarity in strength"? 
If James is by himself, then there's no solidarity, no movement, no 
strength.

That's why this is such an important moment. You were exactly right, what 
you said about Gandhi's strategy of filling the jails. That was a brilliant 
strategy, because there was no way the oppressors could fight it. Same thing 
with SPDC. There's nothing in the way of action -- all you need is 
commitment. Fill the jails, and victory is inevitable.

FACT: Nobody's doing it, Dawn Star. Not you, not me, not the hundreds of NLD 
people who are resigning every week. SPDC is laughing right now.

That's the truth, and you're just in denial if you accuse me of defeatism. 
You refuse to look at the facts, and you just insist that nobody else look 
at the fact either, we're all just supposed to lull ourselves into a false 
sense of accomplishment.

We have real problems, and we've got to solve them. Are you going to help, 
or are you just going to keep on pretending everything's fine?

Stu

>From: Dawn Star <dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: dawnstar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: Stuart Albright <stuart_albright@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>CC: tinkyi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, burmanet2-l@xxxxxxxx, burmanet-l@xxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: Re: [burmanet2-l] Re: The Times - Bribery is key to life in 
>Burma's death jail
>Date: Thu, 23 Sep 1999 23:31:02 +0200
>
>Stuart, i will reply to you privately, but this message you posted
>publicly so here and here alone let me say that this kind of defeatism
>is ueseless and self-defeating and undermines every and all actions that
>we put forward and intend to put forward; james is a fighter, no more of
>this "poor james" business. he knew what he was doing, prepared himself
>and was ready for what happened. do not underestimate him or his
>determination or what he represents to the world. surely it is hard for
>him and his parents and closest loved ones. this is a time for
>solidarity, in strength, not weakness. the enemy will crush the weak
>hearted and they find sick pleasure in it. it is the spirit that keeps
>the body alive, remember that. ds
>
>
>Stuart Albright wrote:
> >
> > Dawn Star,
> >
> > You're right, we don't know exactly what happened. All we know is that 
>they
> > put Rachel in jail, and suddenly thirty people who were planning to do 
>the
> > same thing instantly changed their minds. OK, whatever.
> >
> > With all the NLD members giving up anyway, what's the point? I know 
>they're
> > being pressured, but if they're not willing to go to jail, why  should
> > anyone else? Poor James.
> >
> > Stu
> >


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