Episode #203: Jack Myint's journey is a tale of cultural contrast and resilience. He had the opportunity as a teenager to attend a program at a US college, sponsored by the State Department. Coming from the very traditional, Myanmar public schools, his experience of open discussion and critical engagement in an American college classroom was an awakening.

Returning to Myanmar from the vibrant American campus was stark, reverse culture shock. Jack’s independent spirit, only enhanced by his US trip, caused his mother concern under the repressive, military regime. She warned, “You're going to either get killed or end up in jail,” and that he needed to leave the country somehow. Jack chose to apply to college overseas; he navigated the challenges, was accepted at several schools, and secured a scholarship so he could attend one.

During Jack’s college years, Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, and he was invited to the ceremony, and he jumped on a Greyhound to DC. While expressing pride in a Burmese political figure being so admired on a worldwide scale, Jack acknowledges the conflicted nature of her legacy. He also feels that the NLD government made many mistakes which, in retrospect, may have contributed to the conditions leading to the 2021 military coup.

Jack’s strong view on sanctions is that they have historically proven ineffective in changing the behavior of despotic regimes, particularly in a resource-rich country like Myanmar, and that they primarily harm the people. He suggests that calls for sanctions in Myanmar are often motivated by emotional considerations, primarily as a symbolic, moral action than a concrete act of policy with clear consequences.

Jack concludes the discussion with a resounding sense of hope for the democracy movement, while calling out foreign observers who wrote them off long ago. “Never underestimate the resiliency of the Myanmar people! We've seen pretty bad stuff, and we've lived through it, and we've survived it… If I don't have hope, I have nothing. And at least in my lifetime, I think we'll we will see a return to the promise that Myanmar once showed the world.”

Gross National Happiness Conference Panel Two: The Happiness Movement