Burmese Way to Socialism

The Burmese Way to Socialism is the name of the ideology of Burmese ruler, Ne Win, who ruled the country from 1962 to 1988. It included such ideals as the nationalisation of industries, repression of minorities, and a police state. However, it also encouraged more unorthodox views. These included a severe isolationism, expulsion of foreigners, discouragement of tourists and closing off of the economy.. Ne Win's ideology also encouraged "bona fide" religion to make the people more selfless. In practice this meant encouraging or forcing a state-sanctioned form of Buddhism, although initially it claimed to favour religion generally rather than any specific religion. In practice Ne Win also relied on numerology in his system, but this was not officially part of it.

Opinions are mixed to the resulting effects of the implementation of this ideology. The positives cited include increased domestic stability and keeping Burma from being as entangled in the Cold War struggles that affected other Southeast Asian nations. [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687(196703)7%3A3%3C188%3ABDPTPO%3E2.0.CO%3B2-4 "Burmese Domestic Policy: The Politics of Burmanization" by Robert A. HolmesAsian Survey, Vol. 7, No. 3 (Mar., 1967), pp. 188-197] ] [ [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0004-4687(196902)9%3A2%3C104%3AB1-ANB%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5 "Burma: 1968 -- A New Beginning?" byFrank N. Trager Asian Survey, Vol. 9, No. 2, A Survey of Asia in 1968: Part II (Feb., 1969), pp. 104-114] ] However critics indicate it greatly increased poverty, isolation, [ [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5ql3habQL1QC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=%22Burmese+Way+to+Socialism&ots=ivDPspnP10&sig=hoSBMiQAM6jHWuFcS3z5mhF0ohI#PPA59,M1 Economic Development in Myanmar By Myat Thein pgs 4, 57-60] ] [ [http://64.233.179.104/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:rJSZbpAajkIJ:www.stefancollignon.de/pdf/gspmain.pdf+%22Burmese+Way+to+Socialism The Burmese Economy and the Withdrawal of European Trade Preferences, pgs 5-6] ] and that it was even "disastrous." [ [http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=hFA9etqLyrEC&oi=fnd&pg=PR8&dq=%22Burmese+Way+to+Socialism&ots=dEQj0WjvDm&sig=OSLvjZ3E9662PcGFm9mEozExLi4#PPA2,M1 Economic Development of Burma: A Vision and a Strategy By Khin Maung Kyi, pg 2] ] Ne Win's later attempt to make the currency base 9Fact|date=May 2008 proved purely negative and led the military to revolt. This caused the authoritarian "Burmese Way to Socialism" to be replaced by a new authoritarian system.

ee also

*Politics of Burma
*Human rights in Burma
*Economy of Burma

External links

* [http://pangea.stanford.edu/~nickt/burmarev.html Nick Thompson of Stanford on Burma]
* [http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/commission/country52/65-mmr.htm Feb 1996 report on Myanmar by the UN Commission on Human Rights]
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/obl/docs/The_Burmese_Way_to_Socialism.htm Original article from the Revolutionary Council]

References

* [http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/4532 Burma---Growing Ever Darker] Foreign Policy in Focus, September 11, 2007.