February 3rd marks the first day of the lunar new year, the year of the cat (in China it's the year of the Hare), and coincidentally I was born in the year of the cat. I'm going to pretend like that's good luck for me, or a good sign or something.
Had another interesting chat with Chinh this evening, and another one of his friends in the bar. The conversation centered mostly around the government today. I've been thinking about communist theory vs. communism in practice (AJ is taking a course on 'spaces of hope' or something, and is reading the Communist Manifesto. I also watched 'Reds' twice on HBO in the past month...). Chinh says he was very close to becoming a communist himself as a young man. He gave me an interesting quote: if one isn't a communist at age 20, they have no heart. If one is a communist at age 40, they are stupid. There's also another gem he gave me: communism is born in stupidity, grows up in violence, and dies in corruption. Quite the cynic, my friend Chinh. He has a point, though. He pointed not only to Vietnamese history, where the communist regime came in and took both money and property from the rich and land from the poor country-folk, but also to China with Mao Zedong and Cambodia with Pol Pot, as well as Che Guevarra and Castro.
Basically, we went through the communist history, starting with the years 1980-85, when Chinh was getting out of prison. This was the time of 'true' communism, when there was no western culture allowed into the country, and even speaking to a foreigner on the street ended in a formal police interrogation. In '85, the doors opened slightly, and rules eased up. These days, the government is communist in name only; the system is still communist (meaning the Party rules over all, as well as the 'People's Committee'), but the policy isn't. I'd heard when I moved over here that if you have money, you can basically get away with anything. That is literally how things work here. The high-ranking officals are insanely wealthy, driving BMWs and Bentleys (which BTW all have 200% import tax), sending their children to international schools, etc. They are also above basically all laws-Tuan, a man who spends many evenings at the Chu bar and is related to a very high ranking Party official, is quite into weed and smokes it freely in the bar. I'm told that if most people tried to pull something like that, they'd be arrested. But, since everyone knows who he is and that he is untouchable, no one bats an eye. It is so screwed up here!
At least in the US, when big deal people are douchebags about following laws, the media gets pics and everyone gets in an uproar. Here, because there is no free press or free speech, that stuff just doesn't happen. Apparently the chief editor of every newspaper is a Party member, so every written word has been approved by the Communists. In schools, there are always a few Party members in the staff, who incidentally make all decisions and policies, including salaries, etc.
I've been writing so much about the government, and I apologize if it bores people to tears. I find it fascinating, but maybe because I'm here. I think it's kind of me trying to work everything out; there's so much going on under the surface, and I can't imagine living here without truly understanding how things work. It is so easy to live here as a foreigner and not notice any of these things, but I think that is a disservice to oneself.
I'm planning on trying to go to some of the museums here in the next few weeks (lets face it, I have all the time in the WORLD), including the War Remnants Museum and the Art Museum. Also planning on going to the Reunification Palace. Gotta see how much it is to go to the Cu Chi tunnels. Definitely want to check that out.
As this week is Tet, and everyone who is still in the city that I know is Vietnamese, I will hopefully be following them to what apparently is a never-ending string of parties. Tomorrow at 4 PM it kicks off, with seafood and music and I don't know what else. I'll try to remember to bring my camera so I can take some pics of downtown, complete with lights and flowers and all manner of things.
No comments:
Post a Comment