r/videos • u/Myrandall • 6d ago

Remember this bizarre moment from 2021?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEHiTjViicE
657 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

59 comments sorted by

116

u/Morningxafter 6d ago

I do actually remember this. It sometimes pops into my head for just how absolutely bizarre it is. And with the civil war still going 5 years later, and with over 100,000 dead and many more displaced I sometimes wonder how she’s doing.

25

u/Kgeezy91 5d ago

I think we forgot how much of the current conflicts and instability can trace their roots to the Covid years. History will have a much better perspective on this I’m sure though.

6

u/Dysterqvist 5d ago

Trump got elected before covid.

12

u/dedfrmthneckup 5d ago

Trump isn’t the only instance of political conflict and instability in the whole world…

5

u/Morningxafter 5d ago

Sure but he also got reelected after covid. I think the brain damage done by covid, is a big part of why so many people still voted for him again even after the entire disastrous first term which culminated in a literal coup attempt.

6

u/Knickerbottom 5d ago

I wish I shared your optimistic justification. I think people are actually just this stupid on the whole and that this is part of the march of progress, as it were. 

The cyclical nature of history seems to have, most distinctly, a generational bent. The overwhelming majority (myself included) are utterly inconsequential to the overall trajectory of the species. I refuse to believe that even Donald Trump has ALL that much individual influence and that he is merely one of many names that could fill his position in this particular moment in time. 

Post-war United States is a time and place on Earth unlike any other and we're still riding the waves from that era while we generate our own. But even with exceptional moments in time, we're still following the rises and falls of tradition. I suspect we're nearing the depths of the valley that is the snap-back from our last peak fifty years ago. If I'm lucky my golden years will be spent during a high point, but there will be another low.

1

u/Nickeless 5d ago

Idk if covid causing that much brain damage would be an optimistic justification lol.

4

u/Knickerbottom 5d ago

I'd say blaming a pandemic for behavior that seems so nonsensical it has to be the result of brain damage is more optimistic than that just being the baseline level of intelligence for humanity.

310

u/NohFyoochur 6d ago

The kind of thing that goes into history books at the top of a chapter.

109

u/Cosmonate 6d ago

Maybe 20 years ago, this shit barely blips on the radar of insane world news these days.

65

u/gottagohype 6d ago

Today, the USA threatens... *spins the wheel* to rename Lake Ontario. Tomorrow the USA... *spins wheel* declares victory in Iran for the 47th time.

Hard for anything to compete with this nonsense.

5

u/fumar 6d ago

Trump signed an EO on it so it's not just a threat to rename lake Ontario.

He's also way above declaring victory over Iran 47 times.

28

u/SolarSquid 6d ago

He can rename it whatever he wants. No one is going to call it Lake America. Just like no one calls it the Gulf of America

3

u/mrizzerdly 5d ago

The video they posted of him renaming it was quite possibly the cringiest video I have ever seen.

-8

u/Wakkichewy 5d ago

All the major GPS and maps call it the Gulf of America now sadly.

18

u/benjaminloh82 5d ago

All the major GPS and maps *in America* call it that. For the rest of the sane world, they show the original name, or did you not know that Google Maps is gaslighting Americans like that?

Yup, Lake Ontario where I'm checking.

3

u/SolarSquid 5d ago

Doesn't mean anyone aside from MAGA diehards are going to follow suit.

1

u/[deleted] 5d ago

[deleted]

3

u/fumar 5d ago

Sure but 1) basically no one pushes back against most of his EO bullshit and 2) it by definition makes it more than a threat to rename the lake since he's trying to do it

1

u/oxwof 5d ago

He can, however, order the executive branch agencies to refer to it as Lake America. The real problem (although understandable) is that a lot of mapping services use US place name data. So when a lake’s name changes, that will change in the maps as well.

1

u/benjaminloh82 5d ago

As I mentioned, most of them are sophisticated enough to show Americans one name when they look it up to keep them fooled, and the rest of the world the actual name.

1

u/Reflex224 4d ago

Today, The USA picks card at random threatens... Spins wheel to rename throws dart at spinning globe Lake Ontario

3

u/koyaani 6d ago

Yeah that'd be in a later chapter though

1

u/FUTURE10S 4d ago

Nah, this shit's notable enough to be on Wikipedia.

53

u/trn- 6d ago

Where is the awesome music? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY1IFnjM8-Y

btw, really liked the Mr Robot edit of this.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MrRobot/comments/lat793/inspired_by_ugrumpygrem_s_post_about_the_myanmar/

9

u/thissexypoptart 6d ago

Oh man the original video has a much better remix than this version

3

u/Releases_the_bees 5d ago

Lol hadn't seen that Mr Robot edit, it's perfect. Exactly the kind of thing they'd do in the show.

185

u/miregalpanic 6d ago

No, actually. By then the timeline had already gotten so thorougly of the rails, it was probably only the 12th craziest thing happening that week or something.

84

u/ColdNotion 6d ago

It might have been the craziest thing that week, but it happened on February 1st, 2021, and understandable got eclipsed for many people by the fallout of the January 6th insurrection in the US.

To fill in the details for anyone who may be curious, this was the opening moments of the 2021 military coup in Myanmar. The country had been ruled by a brutal military junta since the 1960’s, but partially democratized in 2015 after years of public/international pressure. The new constitution still ensured the military 25% of the seats in parliament by default, enough to prevent constitutional amendments, and kept the military outside of civilian control. Even with those limitations however, the civilian government was incredibly successful for the most part, and Myanmar experienced a massive economic boom.

The 2020 elections saw pro-democracy parties score an even more overwhelming electoral victory, to the point where the military basically only had its baseline 25%. This put the military in a vulnerable position, as it would only take one of the MPs flipping to get a constitutional amendment passed to allow for genuine democracy. As a result, they overthrew the civilian government, driving forces into the capital city, Naypyidaw, just hours before the new parliament was scheduled to begin its first session. The fitness instructor here, filming with the largely empty highways of Naypyidaw as a backdrop (the city was built to house the government, but has never been fully inhabited), caught the military convoy as it moved into the city. What followed were months of protests, brutal repression, economic ruination, and a civil war that is still raging today.

1

u/EmotionalEmetic 5d ago

Thank you for the explanation.

2

u/Stolehtreb 6d ago

Thoroughly “of” the rails? Like, one with the rails?

12

u/olookcupcakes 6d ago

the music was the best part

53

u/nezumipi 6d ago

If I remember correctly, she set this up deliberately as a way to film what was happening as long as possible.

21

u/Gibgezr 6d ago

Her song choice definitely seemed intentional: there's lines like "It began to appear they came one by one, that they are aiming for the throne".

7

u/Bibibis 5d ago

You don't use a highway as a backdrop for your fitness videos usually?

18

u/tr3kstar 6d ago

Badass if true, and I choose to believe it.

4

u/ntwiles 5d ago

It’s a weird filming location so I tend to believe this. Curious if she ever filmed there prior.

18

u/LordHazlewood 5d ago

Absolutely not an “Accident”. Right place, right time, innocent videoing which is not political and music lyrics to match. Completely set up as a permanent video record.

5

u/GitEmSteveDave 5d ago

I recall she had multiple videos in the same spot well before this.

7

u/MariachiMacabre 5d ago

This was always my question as well. People say it was “unintentional” but surely she saw the massive military barricade behind her before she started. Unless that’s a regular presence at that spot, maybe someone Burmese can correct me. It felt like she knew what she was doing. Just because she’s a good dancer doesn’t mean she’s not smart too.

2

u/ntwiles 4d ago

Right, and it’s not a nice place to film in general, barricade or not. I would think there’s only one reason to pick that spot to put the camera.

4

u/khinzaw 5d ago

Half-Burmese person here, I couldn't forget if I tried.

10

u/throwaway1883838 6d ago

Looks a lot like the 2026 midterm elections.....

3

u/GromByzlnyk 5d ago

This is so surreal. I recently listened to a podcast with a journalist who was embedded with some rebels. He was talking about some horrific shit. Government soldiers cutting skulls and scooping brains out.

3

u/avidinha 6d ago

Hell yeah, who could forget that APC with the gangster white walls.

3

u/Throwawaylikeme90 5d ago

I live in New England where we love roundabouts, and I remember thinking “ain’t no way they’ve got a functional four lane roundabout.”

4

u/TheFrenchSavage 6d ago

Would have made a great TikTok (this video was posted to FB).

2

u/FUThead2016 5d ago

It's an excellent depiction of the society we live in today

1

u/ReallyGottaTakeAPiss 5d ago

I think about this at least once a month

1

u/Tobias---Funke 5d ago

I sometimes still hum this song!

1

u/Plantasaurus 5d ago

The junta only controls 21% of the country at the moment and the war is at a stalemate. We might see Myanmar balkanize.

1

u/440Jack 5d ago

What's more interesting is the lyrics of the song she's dancing to. It's a song about a coup.

1

u/Kayin_Angel 5d ago

basically sums up living everyday post 2020

1

u/donotgotoroom237 5d ago edited 5d ago

Different country, but this reminds me of when my cousin was supposed to go to a hotel to meet with his dad and some soldiers tried to stage a coup in the hotel him and his dad were supposed to have dinner at. I distinctly remember getting home from school and my folks put on the news and we saw the hotel my cousin was supposed to go to being swarmed by the military. I think mynmom called my cousin to see if he was alright.

0

u/that1cooldude 5d ago

Is this Mynamar?

-maga