Text used in the image: highlights of a speech by Aung San Suu Kyi entitled ‘Freedom from Fear’.
Freedom
The only real
prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear
Fear of losing
power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts
those who are subject to it.
It is not
power that corrupts but fear.
Within a
system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the
order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of
losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear
of isolation, fear of failure. A most insidious form of fear is that which
masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless,
insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve
man's self-respect and inherent human dignity. It is not easy for a people
conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to
free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear. Yet even under the most
crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the
natural state of civilized man.
Emerald cool we
may be - as water in cupped hands. But oh that we might be as splinters of
glass in cupped hands. Glass splinters, the smallest with its sharp, glinting
power to defend itself against hands that try to crush, could be seen as a
vivid symbol of the spark of courage that is an essential attribute of those
who would free themselves from the grip of oppression.
The search for scapegoats is essentially an abnegation of responsibility: it indicates an inability to assess honestly and intelligently the true nature of the problems which lie at the root of social and economic difficulties and a lack of resolve in grappling with them.
Human beings the
world over need freedom and security that they may be able to realize their
full potential.
As I travel
through my country, people often ask me how it feels to have been imprisoned in
my home first for six years, then for 19 months[sic]. How could i stand the
separation from family and friends? It is ironic, i say, that in an
authoritarian state it is only the prisoner of conscience who is genuinely free.
Yes, we have given up our right to a normal life. But we have stayed true to
that most precious part of our humanity--our conscience.
Fear of being
surpassed, humiliated or injured in some way can provide the impetus for ill
will. And it would be difficult to dispel ignorance unless there is freedom to
pursue the truth unfettered by fear. With so close a relationship between fear
and corruption it is little wonder that in any society where fear is rife
corruption in all forms becomes deeply entrenched.
Public
dissatisfaction with economic hardships has been seen as the chief cause of the
movement for democracy in burma, sparked off by the student demonstrations
1988. It is true that years of incoherent policies, inept official measures,
burgeoning inflation and falling real income had turned the country into an
economic shambles. But it was more than the difficulties of eking out a barely
acceptable standard of living that had eroded the patience of a traditionally
good-natured, quiescent people – it was also the humiliation of a way of life
disfigured by corruption and fear.
The students were
protesting not just against the death of their comrades but against the denial
of their right to life by a totalitarian regime which deprived the present of meaningfulness
and held out no hope for the future. And because the students’ protests
articulated the frustrations of the people at large, the demonstrations quickly
grew into a nationwide movement. Some of its keenest supporters were
businessmen who had developed the skills and the contacts necessary not only to
survive but to prosper within the system.
The effort
necessary to remain uncorrupted in an environment where fear is an integral
part of everyday existence is not immediately apparent to those fortunate
enough to live in states governed by the rule of law. Just laws do not merely
prevent corruption by meting out impartial punishment to offenders. They also
help to create a society in which people can fulfil the basic requirements
necessary for the preservation of human dignity without recourse to corrupt
practices. Where there are no such laws, the burden of upholding the principles
of justice and common decency falls on the ordinary people.
It is not power
that corrupts but fear.
Fear of losing
power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts
those who are subject to it.
The only real
prison is fear. And the only real freedom is freedom from fear.
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