Burmese politics
Today we talked with our guide about the political structure in Burma. It is very corrupt at every level even though many people would like it to be different. Still, it is impossible to get through life here without being part of this system. That is why the country cannot move forward the way it should.
The government has a taxation system that is rarely followed. Many people pay a fraction of their tax or even none at all. They do this by paying off officials to falsify the amounts that they earn. This has been necessary in the corrupt, military dictatorship that has existed in this country for the past 50 years. Even though most of the country wants Aung San Su Kyi to be president, the government created a new law very recently saying that if you have been in prison (or under house arrest), you cannot run for president! They are trying desperately to regain control of the country, but slowly they are losing control.
When the British ran Burma, it was a very wealthy country, the most wealthy in Asia. It remained prosperous when it became independent, but suffered during the second world war when the British were fighting the Japanese and Germans. Subsequently, when it became a military dictatorship, it slipped into a very poor condition. It is now one of the poorest countries in Asia, because they government cut off all relations with other countries.
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