Real as much as ideal, Kawthoolei is transcendental -- that, one would be unable to comprehend by pure knowledge or experience. Seeing Kawthoolei as the Karen People's utopia is an utter misconception, an ignorance that inevitably breeds disrespect. Kawthoolei has suffered more by this darkness of understanding. 

Outsiders, or yet sons and daughters of Kawthoolei who have been indoctrinated by formal education[10], thought Kawthoolei could not be real but a mythical construct. An understanding of Kawthoolei detached from the rationale of the people proves misplaced. 

If fixating on war and current affairs, Kawthoolei may appear political aspiration, rather, Kawthoolei constitutes a moral commission. Kawthoolei prescribes rather the fabric of society than the political landscape and physical territory. It exhorts the citizen to uphold civic virtue, among which are honesty, simplicity, tranquility, faithfulness, cleanliness, cooperation, and service.    

Sacredness and virtue appear alien to the contemporary world. In fact, modern liberalism in the Western world benefits from the western intellectual tradition given birth by Socrates and successive generations of thinkers who advocated ethics, virtue, and truth that has set thinking tradition for Western world. 

Although fragmented, elements of Kawthoolei virtue are still alive among the Karen community. From urban, where Karen people mostly follow foreign religions, to the foothills and hill districts, where native animism is still faithfully practiced, moral virtues such as honesty, simplicity, hospitality, steadiness, and straightforwardness still pervade in Karen people's daily living.  

Honesty, a core trait of the Karen people enshrined in their National Anthem,  is a convenient translation of "taw" that has a host of related and collocated words: uprightness, straightforwardness, faithfulness and purity.  [တၢ်ထံတၢ်တီ, တၢ်တီတၢ်လိၤ, တၢ်စီတၢ်ဆှံ]. Another characteristic trait "simplicity", referring to being non-cunning, no-hidden agenda, or non-deceitful, is still visible among the people today. 

Kawthoolei is envisioned to prosper through hard work of the citizens. Karen people also value hard work and eating well. The traditional primary greeting 'mar-nay-or-kae' (မၤန့ၢ်အီၣ်ကဲ) indicates that (Work hard and enjoy the fruits your labor!). This compound word denotes wishing someone good health and prosperity. This poetic greeting is still widely used in the auspicious occasion of the Karen People New Year celebrations.  

In the strict sense, Kawthoolei emphasizes a lack of vices rather than enumeration of virtues. It can be better understood by setting forth the lacking: a land without stealing, a land without quarrel, and a land without excessive greed. It appeals to human goodness with a little moderation, a little restraint, a little sacrifice. Moderation and restraint are time-tested healthy lifestyles that the contemporary world renews appreciation.  

The Kawthoolei moral values hold universality since every society wants to achieve the essence of Kawthoolei of deterring thief, aggression, and killing, therefore, by resolving conflicts and tension through an elaborate legal system, civic culture, and political culture. To achieve a livable world, keeping the dark side of human nature in check, societies use the state power, yet lethal police forces, employing both intimidation and appeal to human goodness.  

In a developed world like North America, families move to suburban communities where there is a lesser crime rate and a slower pace of lifestyle. Most cities and towns have structured themselves to be a land without evils, a land without constant petty theft by solving the root causes of social and economic problems.  

To create a land without evil, the developed world cultivates sound civic and legal culture through formal and civic education. From that civic culture, they have attained a society relatively clearing of social vices. 

The land of Burma has long been pervaded by the vices of stealing and lying at many levels. A society rife with thieves will eventually destroy itself [5] -- this is the axiom established theoretically and empirically -- either parasites rampantly taking advantage of a host organism, or thieves in a society that destroys the host.  

In a sense, our fore-parents proposed Kawthoolei out of necessity, a reactionary measure. The Karen people settled in the Green Land, but later the newcomers with a vibrant culture created noises, stole everything and anything, and behaved aggressively toward our fore-parents. In modern times, Karen villagers who grew up in a land adjacent to the plain valley know that life is not easy when you live close to people who are volatile with an incompatible moral culture. Your farm produce could be stolen while you work hard for the fruits for months; your plants and fruits could be snapped away without your permission; your seedlings could be stamped. Bearing an economic and psychological toll, our forebears longed for a new world away from thieves and quarrels. 

Kawthoolei is a preamble to diversity.

Kawthoolei demands only the absence of darkness so that every color can shine bright.    

Diversity is not only moral sense but it has business sense. Diversity brings creativity, openness to new ideas, innovation, and resilience. Advanced nations make progress by harnessing the value of diversity. Diversity in thinking from diversity of talents creates diversity in economic sectors that make a nation robust in economy and human resources.  

World superpower such as the U.S.A also can stay a robust superpower because of diversity of human talents and natural resources. Research and development, innovation and inventions come from the nation being able to attract and retain diversity of human talents.    

Single resource countries like oil-rich nations are vulnerable to the wind of change either brought by technological breakthroughs or scientific discoveries.    

Modern Karen people are native to diversity. Even though Karen people see themselves as a single people of common Sino-Mongoloid descents, outsiders view the Karen people as a collection of people with diversity in dialects, religious beliefs, and geographical backgrounds. Those apparent differences may contribute to Karen people having diverse physical appearances compared to other ethnic nationalities among their neighbors. Also, no other ethnic people have their traditional attire as variety in color as that of the Karen people.  

At one historical juncture, an antithesis to diversity had arisen in creating Karen people's homeland. At the end World War II when the financially bankrupt British were so weak to leave their Burma colony, the Karen nationalist leaders were restless to create a nation state where Karen people could live without non-Karen domination over the Karen people -- a nation state where the Karen people can manage their own affairs. Some started postulating a single ethnic nation state called “Karenistan”[4] but that idea of a state name solely based on a single race was later rejected. 

Loving people as they are, jingoism is instinctively distasteful to the Karen people. In addition, the proposed Kawthoolei state in mid 20th Century already inhabited by a diversity of people, ranging from Karenic speaking people such as Pa’O people, Bwe, Paku, Mornaypwar,  Geko, Geba, Pwo, Breh, and the non-Karenic speaking people such as Mon-Kmar descents, the Shan-Tai descents, the Burmese speaking people. Hence, the name was revived that aligns with the dream of the ancestor and social values of the people where darkness is clear “Kawthoolei” that is to not be based on a specific linguistic race. In a distant history before modern time, similar pronunciation “Kaw-Tha-La Tai”, (ကောသလတိုင်း)[2] Kaw-tha-La Kingdom had existed in Burmese historians' records and the kingdom is believed to be ruled by the Karenic speaking King and court.    

Therefore, Kawthoolei is not creating a new nation but restoring a nation that thrived in the past and adding more modern social and political progressive values into it.   

Kawthoolei is not to embrace diversity, but Kawthoolei is the diversity, for its name has manifested aligning its essence with reality of the Land.  

Kawthoolei avoids the same mistakes that the Bamar ultra-nationalists who have had attempted to create "a nation with one race, one voice, one command" under the domination of one race that has led to eventual self-destruction, now known to the world as a living hell. 

Kawthoolei proposes the preservation of national virtue, therefore doing unethical business in the name of reclaiming Kawthoolei defeats the purpose of it. One cannot reclaim a nation by destroying the elements that make it. Gambling, prostitution, and human-trafficking, any degrading business has no place in Kawthoolei since it is a direct opposite of Kawthoolei ideals. Those who collaborate and participate in those international criminal acts ruin Kawthoolei; they are public enemy and enemy of the State of Kawthoolei, hence, in due time, must be tried for treason.

A country as open, advanced, and going individualistic as the U.S.A does not allow such prostitution business. Violating human dignity will rot the moral fabric of the community, herein, the nation. 

Kawthoolei ideals transcend political ideology. 

Every nation, whether the USA, China, or Iran, regardless of their state political ideology, they all worry about public morals and national spirit.  

Kawthoolei does not describe family values but is understood. The Karen people have a strong family cohesion, from the fidelity of husband and wife to a network of support systems among relatives. Kawthoolei will not favor individualistic appetite that may ruin family cohesion, hence social cohesion. Families are the smallest units of a nation, therefore every unit ought to be unbroken for the structural integrity of the nation.  

Kawthoolei is organic to the natural world. 

"Kaw" in the name suggests an emphasis on the natural environments and the natural order rather than just a political order. The soil, the water, the people, the animals, the ecology are elements of the revered land "Kaw". 

Understanding Kawthoolei may elevate the understanding of political, social, environmental-ecological, globalized world order, common sense decency, human-nature harmony having compatibility among artificial orders and natural orders of a tiny blue dot in this universe.   

Kawthoolei is sacrificial. 

With countless lives, blood, tears and sweats, the sacred homeland is being reclaimed. However, Heaven and Earth hasn't forsaken. Endowed with striking topography, Kawthoolei has been the fortress for ages. During this multi-generational liberation war, Kawthoolei has been the protector for its freedom fighters. Our uniformed service members and villagers have taken sanctuary under Kawthoolei's rugged mountains, hidden valleys, and thick jungle rainforests as the land has nurtured and protected her people. 

Kawthoolei and the Karen people are one and the same. When does Kawthoolei weep and wail, so are the Karen people all over the world broken and weary. When Kawthoolei is burning and dying, the Karen people everywhere are longing for the days where the darkest nights are cleared away. After many generations, hope is still strong. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, the Kawthoolei dream will come true if the people believe that they are the rightful owners. Without Kawthoolei, however, the survival of the Karen people will be at stake. 

Sgaw Ler Taw[1] also noted the following: 

"We were, according to most historians, the first settlers in this new land. The Karens named this land Kaw-Lah, meaning the Green Land. We began to peacefully clear and till our land free from all hindrances. Our labours were fruitful, and we were very happy with our lot. So, we changed the name of the land to Kawthoolei, a land free of all evils, famine, misery and strife: Kawthoolei, a pleasant, plentiful, and peaceful country. Here we lived characteristically simple, uneventful and peaceful lives, until the advent of the Burman." 

He accounts on the nature of the Karen people that 

"By nature the Karens are simple, quiet, unassuming, and peace living people, who uphold the high moral qualities of honesty, purity, brotherly love, co-operative living and loyalty, and are devout in their religious beliefs."

About 100 years ago, an American Baptist missionary and anthropologist  Edward Norman Harris, who grew up in current KNU's Kler-Lwee-Htu Administrative, lived among the Karen people collected Karen fairy tales in the book "The Rice Fairy" noted the followings:

"The Karens', a mountain tribe of Burma and northern Thailand, are unusual in several ways. They are poetic, musical, rigidly moral, and believe in one God"

Dr. San C. Poe, a senator (member of legislative council) and a statesman during British Burma (4 October 1870 – 7 June 1946) noted the following of the Karen people's character traits: 

"The Karen People, whose traits include simplicity, honesty, steadiness, a love of music, and sense of God."

In the book "Burma and the Karens", he made a case for the Karen nation, where Karen people to be free from domination, harassment, and persecution. The book is now available online at courtesy of drumpublications.org  http://www.drumpublications.org/download/Burma%20and%20the%20Karens.pdf 

Edward O. Wilson noted the following in the Meaning of Human Existence: 

"A successful thief furthers his own interests and those of his offspring, but his actions weaken the remainder of the group. Any genes proscribing his psychopathic behavior will increase within the group from on generation to the next -- but like a parasite causing a disease in an organism, his activity weakens the rest of the group -- and eventually the thief himself."

Edward O. Wilson, an American biologist and thinker, known for his pioneering work on biodiversity, insects, and human nature, wrote an influential book on "the Unity of Knowledge - Consilience" in which he eloquently elaborates the search for knowledge relation between science and humanity. The book also examines society, altruism, and parasites -- how thieves and heroism affect society. The book was introduced to me about 20 years ago by a retired professor specialized in science and philosophy. That introduction fostered my interest in diversity of knowledge and a dedication to life-long learning. 

Mary P. Callahan wrote an insider account of Burma pre WWII and afterward about war alliance and rivalry among different armed powers in Burma. 

The book accounts the attempts for the creation of a sovereign  state for Karen People: 

"United Frontier Karen States", "Karenistan", and "an autonomous Karenistan". 

   https://www.youtube.com/@KarenSAll. 

Oral tradition of the Karen People in folklore, fables and poems which indicate the moral values and life style that may be untouched by outside civilization can be found in this stories youtube channel.  Most of the tales from older generation of mountain dwellers in Thailand who had never been indoctrinated by public education with non-Karen values. 

Karen people has a strong oral tradition of Hta (pronounced 'Taa' with a strong T) to pass down information, teaching, wisdom, historical event, and proverbs.  Many of the tales exposes a fusion of the Karen people social and moral world view, how they interact and teach each other.  Most academic works come from non-Karen sources that may appear factually correct, but those sources sure incomplete and out of context. 

Ali, S. H. (2022). Earthly Order: How Natural Laws Define Human Life. Oxford University Press. (pp. 129

In this book Professor Ali explains The similarity of economic equilibrium among parasite and host among organism, society, and planet earth. When thieves are rife in society, that society will destroys itself, for it spontaneously breaks the equilibrium of host-dependent relationship. 

[10] Riccardo. (2015, June 15). Education Is a System of Indoctrination of the Young   Noam Chomsky [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/OCwJOq6BGg8