Capitalism moves insidiously into the heart of the Law within "Burmese Days". Equality before the law is shown to be perpetually non-existent. Any sort of equality or justice within the law is only shown to benefit a profit/power-making venture; "His [U Po Kyin’s] practice... was to take bribes from both sides and then decide the case on strictly legal grounds. This won him a useful reputation for impartiality".
UPK is far from being the only “corrupter” of the Law within this text. As Flory points out in his debate with Dr. Veraswami, “the official holds the Burman down while the business man goes through his pockets… The British Empire is simply a device for giving trade monopolies to the English”.
Law and order, [implemented, of course, with the governance of a particular colony], is laid down simply to reap profits for the Empire and ensure the smooth running of this business we call the Colonial Enterprise. Burma “might have slept in the Middle Ages for a century more if it had not proved a convenient spot for a railway terminus”.
The British who were “creeping round the world building prisons…and call[ing] it progress” could be seen as “modernizing” the colonies with such infrastructures for their own benefit, and “imprisoning” the colonies within their profit-making ventures.
Colonial law is a child of capitalism where the “universal” nature of Law becomes easily corrupted, used and abused. Capitalism, with its divisive rather than unifying nature, further corrupts the notion of Law [and to an extent, Modernism]. Hence, the notion of Modernization as well as the Law becomes nothing more than a farce in Burmese Days.
UPK is far from being the only “corrupter” of the Law within this text. As Flory points out in his debate with Dr. Veraswami, “the official holds the Burman down while the business man goes through his pockets… The British Empire is simply a device for giving trade monopolies to the English”.
Law and order, [implemented, of course, with the governance of a particular colony], is laid down simply to reap profits for the Empire and ensure the smooth running of this business we call the Colonial Enterprise. Burma “might have slept in the Middle Ages for a century more if it had not proved a convenient spot for a railway terminus”.
The British who were “creeping round the world building prisons…and call[ing] it progress” could be seen as “modernizing” the colonies with such infrastructures for their own benefit, and “imprisoning” the colonies within their profit-making ventures.
Colonial law is a child of capitalism where the “universal” nature of Law becomes easily corrupted, used and abused. Capitalism, with its divisive rather than unifying nature, further corrupts the notion of Law [and to an extent, Modernism]. Hence, the notion of Modernization as well as the Law becomes nothing more than a farce in Burmese Days.
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This is ostensibly Flory's point of view... could you see how this is further complicated within the text?
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