We ancient-history buffs here just love it when we can think of a parallel to modern events with something that happened in ancient history - and in the last couple of days, I've been thinking a lot about Sparta in 464 BC. Yup, really. Most of us know the Spartans were a slave-holding state which was rigidly opposed to the democracy breaking out all over Greece in this flourishing "classical" period. But they HAD fought with the Athenians against the Persians a generation before, so when, in 464, there was a gods-awful earthquake in Sparta that just flattened EVERYTHING, the Athenians got their forces together and nipped down into the Pelopponnese to help. I'm remembering the story off the top of my head here, but as I recall it, the Spartans were totally nervous from the git-go when this force of freedom-loving democratic-like Greeks showed up, and pretty soon they insisted that they didn't need help and asked the Athenians to leave. This went down, of course, like a lead ballooon and contributed to the increasing animosity between the Spartans and the Athenians that would result in the horrific Peloponnesian War in about 25 years.

But that's all it took. A totally closed, paranoid society where tyranny is the order of the day over sub-classes, and the last thing in the world the rulers want is ANYONE from a freer society showing up who could encourage their people to rise up and demand more. So I think I'll couple the rulers of (former) Burma and the ancient Spartans in my mind from now on. History repeating itself.