Iron Cross and Scott Carrier “Rock the Junta” in Burma

Scott Carrier has a fantastic piece on Burma in the July/August issue of Mother Jones. Carrier, who is known for his stories on This American Life and his book, Running After Antelope, traveled to Burma to look for Buddhist temples, but found himself hanging out with Iron Cross, the band whose spirit, if not its censored lyrics, have resonated with the oppressed population of Rangoon. “Everywhere we went, we were watched,” writes Carrier in Rock the Junta. “Long, intense stares coming from every direction, as if we were out of place and out of time, and it was hard to tell whether the Burmese were wondering if we were ‘external destructive elements’ or some second-rate soap opera stars they’d seen on TV. They did not, however, appear to be very friendly, and some of them laughed at us. Yes, a mockery, seconded by legions of squawking crows in every tree.” It is a fine portrait of modern Burma, and an even finer meditation on freedom and oppression.

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