#mission of burma

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

Unearthed, Vol. 19 :: Valentine's Day

It's been awhile, but I've re-booted my bootleg mix series — UNEARTHED — over on Aquarium Drunkard. As the title subtly suggests, this new one is made up entirely of live recordings from various Valentines Days from over the decades. A lotta the usual suspects: The Feelies, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Jerry Garcia, etc. There are a few love songs, yeah, but I'm not sure if it's something you're going to want to have soundtrack your romantic date night this Friday. But then again, maybe you and your paramour think a hazy audience tape of Fairport Convention playing "Flowers of the Forest" is the ultimate slo-jam ... I'm not going to kink-shame here!

Leonard Cohen, “God Is Alive, Magic Is A Foot” (2/14/66) ++ Fairport Convention, “Flowers Of The Forest” (2/14/70) ++ The Feelies, “Loveless Love” (2/14/80) ++ Mission of Burma, “Einstein Day” (2/14/82) ++ Elvis Costello & The Attractions, “Watching The Detectives” (2/14/79) ++ Neil Young, “Train of Love” (2/14/92) ++ Bob Dylan, “Simple Twist of Fate” (2/14/98) ++ Jerry Garcia Band, “Moonlight Mile” (2/14/76)

[naxalbari1967]

Divide, Destroy, Abandon: The British Blueprint Behind Myanmar’s Civil War

Here is the entire essay again with every instance of — removed and replaced with proper punctuation or sentence structure:

Every major problem in Myanmar today, including ethnic conflict, civil war, military dictatorship, economic underdevelopment, and religious violence, is rooted in the way Britain invaded, divided, and ruled the country. British colonialism did not just extract wealth. It reengineered Burmese society to serve empire. It turned communities against each other. It broke existing systems of governance. It forced foreign borders onto people who had never been one country. And when it finally left, it handed power to a military trained in violence, not democracy. Myanmar was not chaotic before Britain came. It was made chaotic by the way Britain destroyed it, looted it, and walked away.

Before the British invasion, Burma was a unified kingdom with a functioning administration, strong Buddhist traditions, and a literate population. It had trade routes across Asia, a complex society with its own justice system, and independent relations with China, Siam, and India. In the 1800s, the British Empire wanted control of this region for two reasons: trade and military advantage. So they launched three separate wars over sixty years in 1824, 1852, and 1885. They killed thousands and finally annexed the entire country into British India.

Once Burma was colonized, the British destroyed its monarchy, dismantled its administrative structures, and exiled its king. They tore down the local institutions that had kept order and replaced them with an occupation army. British officers were imported. Indian administrators were brought in to run the country. Burmese were cut off from power. The entire economy was reorganized to extract resources such as rice, timber, oil, and gems. Britain did not invest in development. It built infrastructure only to extract wealth. Roads and railways went from plantations to ports. The profits went to London and Calcutta. Burmese peasants were left landless and in debt.

The British did not govern through unity. They ruled through division. They split the country into Ministerial Burma and Frontier Areas. The heartland, where the Burman majority lived, was ruled directly. The hills and highlands, where ethnic minorities like the Karen, Kachin, Chin, and Shan lived, were governed separately through British-appointed tribal leaders and missionaries. This created two systems, one for Burmans and one for minorities. It stopped communication between them. It built resentment and isolation. And it laid the foundation for decades of ethnic conflict after independence.

The British also brought in hundreds of thousands of Indian workers and merchants to do the labor and run the economy. Indian moneylenders controlled credit. Indian clerks ran the bureaucracy. Indian police enforced colonial law. In cities like Rangoon, Indians outnumbered Burmese. The colonial government encouraged this. It used racial hierarchies to keep people divided. It treated Burmans as backward Buddhists, Indians as the middle class, and hill tribes as useful warriors. This was deliberate. Divide and rule was not a slogan. It was policy. And it worked.

During World War II, Britain abandoned Burma. The Japanese invaded. Many Burmese saw this as a chance to overthrow colonial rule. Nationalist leaders like Aung San allied with the Japanese and built a military force. Later they switched sides again and helped the British push Japan out. But the damage was done. Entire villages had been bombed. Ethnic militias had been armed. The British had recruited minorities like the Karen to fight against Burmans. Communal massacres happened during the war. These wounds never healed. And the British made no effort to heal them.

When Britain left in 1948, it handed power to a government with no real democratic experience in a country fractured along lines that the British had drawn. There was no strong state. No history of federalism. No trust between groups. No shared vision. Just a fragile ceasefire between factions, a destroyed economy, and an army that saw itself as the only force capable of holding the country together.

Aung San was assassinated before independence. His death created a power vacuum that the military quickly filled. Civil war broke out almost immediately. Ethnic minorities demanded autonomy. Communist rebels took up arms. The military began to grow. It seized more power. It suspended the constitution. It justified dictatorship in the name of unity, a problem Britain had created. The Tatmadaw, Myanmar's army, was modeled on colonial violence. It burned villages. It carried out massacres. It arrested and tortured civilians. These are not new behaviors. They are colonial habits.

The military has always used ethnic conflict to stay in power. It blames minorities for instability. It uses war to justify its budget. It stages fake ceasefires then breaks them. It does what the British taught it to do: control by division, rule by fear. The 1962 coup was not a betrayal of democracy. It was the final stage of a system Britain had built. One where guns, not votes, decide power.

The Rohingya crisis is also rooted in British rule. During colonial times, the British encouraged migration of Bengali Muslims into Arakan, now Rakhine State, to grow rice and work the land. The local Buddhist population resented this. Britain did nothing to integrate them. During World War II, the British armed the Rohingya to fight the Japanese and their Buddhist collaborators. After the war, the British promised the Rohingya autonomy then abandoned them. After independence, they were treated as foreign. The 1982 citizenship law excluded them. The state now calls them illegal. The military uses them as scapegoats. This problem was manufactured by empire then left to rot.

Myanmar's economic underdevelopment is not because it is naturally poor. It is because its economy was never designed to serve its people. It was designed to feed the British Empire. After independence, there was no industrial base. No land reform. No capital. Only plantations, debt, and foreign monopolies. British banks had taken the wealth. Burmese farmers had only poverty.

Even today, Myanmar's currency, land system, trade laws, and legal codes still carry the marks of colonial policy. The railway system still follows the extractive routes. The military budget is still inflated to control regions that were once divided by the British. The education system still privileges rote learning over critical thinking. The border conflicts are still based on the artificial lines drawn by British cartographers.

Every explosion of violence, every coup, every uprising, they are all echoes of the structure Britain left behind. The West still supports the army when it suits its interests. British arms companies sell weapons to Myanmar. Former colonial officers return as consultants. Sanctions come and go depending on who wins elections. But no reparations come. No apologies come. No justice comes.

The crisis in Myanmar is not an internal failure. It is the result of foreign invasion, racist empire, and strategic abandonment. The British did not just steal wealth. They shattered the possibility of unity. They left behind a country made to break. And it has been breaking ever since. Every death, every displacement, every dictatorship that followed is a page in the same colonial story. A story written in blood and silence. A story that must be remembered for what it is. Not tragedy. Not misfortune. But calculated destruction.

[jt1674]

[radiophd]

mission of burma -- he is/she is

[napunk-history]

Mission Of Burma

Mission Of Burma: 1979-1982 (1988)

[bandcampsnoop]

11/16/24.

Middle Class were part of the vibrant California punk scene in the late 1970s/early 1980s (they formed in Santa Ana and moved to nearby Fullerton). I would say this sounds like the perfect combination of Dead Kennedys with Mission of Burma. There were times that I thought of Utah's Foster Body as well.

Frontier Records released this full length compilation of Middle Class' early work (singles, etc.). Their debut 12" "Homeland" is also available streaming on Bandcamp.

While there were times that Middle Class reminds me of the speed and intensity of Husker Du, I felt that the quote on the front of Savage Young Du reminded me of Middle Class: We didn't know what hardcore was. We just got up there and played real fast and loud." (Greg Norton)

[fixedtrajectories]

that's when I reach for my revolver that's when it all gets blown away

[chasgow]

Insert from the 1981 Mission Of Burma EP Signals, Calls And Marches - Peter Prescott, Clint Conley, Martin Swope and Roger Miller.

[omegaremix]

Omega Radio for June 6, 2025; #408.

Anti-Social: “Teacher”

Il Y A Volkswagens: “American Dream”

Dickies, The: “Rosemary”

Stiff Little Fingers: “Here We Are Nowhere”

Dils, The: “Mr. Big”

Mission Of Burma: “This Is Not A Photograph”

Alisa: “I Love An Ape”

Specials, The: “Ghost Town”

Mekons, The: “Heart and Soul”

Suburban Lawns: “When In The World”

Wire: “106 Beats That”

Pylon: “Crazy”

Heaven 17: “(We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang”

Madness: “Madness”

Undertones, The: “True Confessions”

Annie Anxiety: “Hello Horror”

Jam, The: “Art School”

Castration Squad: “Blind” (live)

Alice Bag & The Bags: “Gluttony”

Stranglers, The: “Burnham Beeches”

First (bonus) Summer '25 broadcast; classic punk and true ska.

[big-low-t]

Mission of Burma - Red

[infinitefreefall]

"Belief Systems" by Infinitefreefall the 3rd full-length album now available everywhere

RIYL: Stereolab, Thee Oh Sees/Osees, Can, Deerhoof, Squid, Bloc Party, Fugazi, Mission of Burma, Gang of Four, Parquet Courts, Radiohead, Xiu Xiu, Holy Fuck, My Bloody Valentine, LCD Soundsystem, Ringo Deathstarr, Liars, Sonic Youth, Queens of the Stone Age, TV on the Radio, Ty Segall, The Fall, Wand, NEU!

Spotify Apple Music Bandcamp Linktree

[daggerzine]

Throwback Thursday #92!- Flying Nuns- Pilot EP (1995- Matador Records)

Man, it's hard to believe that this record turned 30 this year, but then again, say that about most records released in the mid-90s.

This Boston-via-Connecticut band had a really strong and sturdy sound, with thick guitars and plenty of hooks (I believe they call it "post-Burma"). I'm not sure why they didn't take off, but alas, they never did. It certainly wasn't for a lack of good songs. 

I believe the band launched in 1989 and released a few singles before landing a (short) deal with Matador for this 5-song EP. 

For this release, the band was guitarist/backing vocalist Pat Lynch, bassist/vocalist Kevin Sweeney, and drummer Tony Velez, There's a few bonafide corkers on here in the opener "Submarine," the driving "Shades," and the swirling "Carousel of Freaks" (where they mention, "Galaxie 500 dreams...." The other two songs, "Frank" and "Life on the Ground," are no slouches either.

I was thinking/hoping the band was gonna have a long career on Matador, but I think they got dropped after this record.  They finally did get around to releasing a full-length in 2002 on the Q Division. Everything Impossible These Days is good, but this EP is still my go-to. 

(or check Discogs)

[spilladabalia]

Mission of Burma - Peking Spring

[radiophd]

mission of burma -- new disco

[jt1674]