March 2 - Peasants' Day in Myanmar (aka Burma)

Posted on March 2, 2022

Key Points

This is an update of my post published on March 2, 2011:

The majority of people in the Southeast Asian nation of Myanmar (still called “Burma” by some) are farmers, or “peasants.” On this day, public buildings and companies are shut down, and workers can stay home with their families or go out and enjoy parks or trade shows. There are many meetings to discuss the needs of the peasants and to hammer out development programs to meet those needs.

That sounds good, but Myanmar has struggled with poverty and inadequate infrastructure (roads, bridges, water and power companies, schools, hospitals), plus ethnic strife and civil war. The military took over the government in the 1960s and violently suppressed protests and violated human rights. For a while, from 2011 to 2020, things got better – or at least seemed to – for many in Myanmar, and it seemed that elections and government were back on the path to being more democratic. But then there was another military coup – and more suppression and human rights atrocities. With all that going on, a single day supposedly honoring the workers seems a bit hypocritical.