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THE CRAZY WORLD OF A PARANOID REGIME

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“What above all was borne in upon me was the sense that the army assumed that it was untouchable, that it could never be called to account, indeed, many of the atrocities were simply a direct expression of arrogance, a demonstration of supremacy.”......Pascal Khoo Thwe – “From the Land of Green Ghosts” 

The SPDC seem to live in a dream world of their own, in a make-believe fantasy that they are supremely beyond any law of the universe or of nature.  They seem to share the same kind of arrogance and delusions of grandeur as the mentally disturbed and the fanatical such as the German Nazis and other war criminals, rapists, and murderers.  They seem to think that they will be able to live in their crazy fantasy world forever, foolishly sure of their own invincibility.  For quite a while now, they thought that they have the miracle and supreme power to create havoc and brutality upon their own race, as well as other races, without ever having to face the consequences.  

However, the situation is not as it seems, and neither will it last forever, and behind the arrogance and shows of bravado, there is always a great fear of adversity which looms in the murky waters of the Generals and their SPDC members.   I believe that the time is long due for the balloon that they have cocooned themselves in to burst with a huge and ugly bang.  

The SPDC are becoming more and more paranoid about each other and do not trust each other.  This fear helps them to keep alert and forever watchful of each other.  However, this way of continued existence is an immensely psychologically and physically stressful situation for any human being to be in, and they may not be able to live in this state for a very long time. 

They are constantly afraid of being stabbed in the back by their own kind, so they have to get rid of any members of their army whom they suspect, or who pose a threat to their safety.  Almost every SPDC members, from the top generals to the mid-juniors are afraid of each other, and each of them is worried and concerned for his safety and survival. 

They have to keep reshuffling their military and government officials, to consolidate their hold on power.  New generals are appointed regularly, and changes within the military are never announced publicly, and they keep a tight lid on all their activities. “The military even blocked cell phone signals around the administrative capital to maintain silence about the proceedings”, Yangon AFP reported recently. 

Thailand-based Myanmar analyst Aung Naing Oo told AFP in Bangkok that the latest changes were another effort by junta supremo Than Shwe to consolidate his power by promoting generals loyal to him.

"You have these new people coming in and taking positions, especially those who are up and coming and who have shown great loyalty to the regime, you have to create some new positions to make way for some other people to keep their loyalty intact," he said. 

Recently, among the highest-level moves so far, Myanmar's Prime Minister Soe Win is losing his position as chief of staff for air defence and will no longer hold any military post.  His replacement is Brigadier General Myint Hlaing, who is believed responsible for instigating the ousting of former Prime Minister, Khin Nyunt, the only member of the regime who showed any willingness to talk with detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. 

“Everyone who knows something is watched by a second person, who however, is never told precisely what he is watching for.  He has to record each word and movement, and by full and frequent reports, enable the ruler to assess the loyalty of the suspect.  But this watcher is himself watched and his report corrected by that of another.  Thus the ruler is always currently informed on the capacity and reliability of the vessels to which he has confided his secrets and can judge which of them is likely to crack or overflow.  He has a filing system of secrets to which he alone keeps the key.  He would feel endangered if he entrusted it entirely to anyone else.”  - “Crowds and Power” by Elias Canetti

In his book “The Shan of Burma”, the late Chao Tzang Yawnghwe wrote that, “During the Konbaung dynasty, not only royal princes but anyone close to them was executed by the new king, particularly in the event of successful palace conspiracies.  The most bloody were when the Mingun prince attempted to seize the throne from King Mindon in 1866, and at Thibaw’s accession in 1875 where princes were sewn up in velvet bags and beaten to death with sandalwood clubs while zat-pwe were staged to distract the public and drown the screams.  As a result many capable princes and experienced ministers lost their lives.”   

It seems as though palace life has changed very little behind the scenes since the medieval times in the case of the latest Burmese SPDC “King” Than Shwe.   

They trust no one;

They have faith in no one.

Not even their own kind.  

There are many of them,

But they are alone,

And they are lonely.

The loneliest one of them being their supreme ruler;

And there is no one lonelier than a fearful and paranoid ruler. 

FERAYA NANGMONE 

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Comments

David Law, MD,  University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), said _

Dear Feraya, the SPDC are really digging themselves deeper and deeper into a pit of their own making. There is a saying that if you dig yourself into a problem, the first thing to do is to stop digging.  It is obvious that the SPDC have only continued to dig, hoping to find an answer, but only making their plight worse.
According to the DSM IV, the diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, we can diagnose the generals of SPDC as having:
301.0 Paranoid Personality Disorder
301.7 Antisocial Personality Disorder
301.81 Narcisstic Personality Disorder
301.4  Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
301.9  Personality Disorder NOS (Not Otherwise Specified)
The numbers are just diagnostic numbers so we can classify them in a systematic way.  I regret that the DSM IV has no category for Stupidity Personality Disorder.  Every one of the SPDC generals qualify for this diagnosis.  The DSM V edition is presently underway and it would be a good idea to nominate this as a new entry.  Unfortunately, we do not have any treatment for Stupidity.  So I am sorry to say to Than Shwe and the other SPDC generals, "You are on your own; no one can help you."
By the way, the frequently-used phrase, Ahnah Yoo, Megalomaniac, can be listed within Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
Thank you for the hard work you put into this essay. Keep up the good work.

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