Myanmar’s Plight Cannot Be Ignored

U Kyaw Win (“Myanmar’s Fight for Democracy,” Feb. 23) is my colleague, and I know his pay as a faculty member at a community college is not large. Still he shares a large part of his salary and a greater part of his energy to support the cause of democracy in Myanmar.

Although he could live a comfortable life in the United States without thoughts of Myanmar’s suffering minorities, Win puts his money where his ideals are: in support of individual freedom.

We Americans, despite our problems, know we live in a great country, and from its relative safety we can easily ignore the problems of Myanmar over 8,000 miles away. After all, we have our own problems to solve. Win reminds me that we can no more ignore Myanmar’s plight than we can a scream from a house in our own neighborhood, the swastika painted on the local temple, or the beating of a fellow citizen.

STEVEN J. GOETZ

Irvine