大咖福利影院

GaryFunk wrote:

I agree with all points but on point 2 I will say they are loyal to their country but not their government. I find this also true to most Americans.

I'm not sure what your main point to posting this is but I'd love to discuss this in person some evening. I had a brief stay with the 509th RRU. I spent my brief military career with the USASA and USASC and as a communication grunt with the USIC.

On point 2, your refinement is valid. But, in case of war against China, I don't see that the refinement would be significant.

The reason for posting is that similar discussions were going on, off topic, in different threads. If we are to discuss it, let's have a topic for it.

As to a personal discussion, it would have to be at my house. My wife's medical condition is too serious for me to leave her, even with a house boy, for any longer than necessary. I do live in Binh Tan and my house is somewhat difficult for a Taxi to find.

If still interested, send me a personal message. I'll even provide some good Scotch.

Fred wrote:

Is it a great idea to mention you fought against the government that hosts you at the moment?

In April 1975 when my family and I left Viet Nam, it would have been a very bad idea to stay in Viet Nam. In 1995, my first time back a C么ng an Nh芒n d芒n Vi峄噒 Nam (Vietnamese Intelligence Officer) obviously did not like me. But, he was civil and processed my paperwork to go into the somewhat restricted military zone that was my wife's home town.

Now days I have a recently retired and senior C么ng an Nh芒n d芒n Vi峄噒 Nam in-law as well as a couple of good friends that are active duty and not so senior C么ng an Nh芒n d芒n Vi峄噒 Nam.

The internal politics of Viet Nam is quite interesting.

ralphnhatrang wrote:

Fred,
Most of the senior staff in our village and district administations and police forces know that my wife is married to a former Australian soldier. I don't give them trouble, they don't give me trouble. In fact, some of us have a few beers together from time to time and they invite my wife and me to their childrens' weddings.聽 The war was a LONG time ago.

I beg to differ with post No1: Vietnam is no longer a communist state with state ownership of the means of production, etc. Rather it is a post-communist, one-party state, because there IS private ownership of the means of production and foreign investment is welcome.聽 聽Even the good ol' USA gave聽 VN a 'market economy' assessment so that it could join the World Trade Organisation.

Agreed with the first part of your post.

The second part is complex and subject to different, and still valid, interpretations. Viet Nam is officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam聽 C峄檔g h貌a X茫 h峄檌 ch峄� ngh末a Vi峄噒 Nam. As you state, Viet Nam is a one party state. That Party is the 膼岷�ng C峄檔g s岷�n Vi峄噒 Nam or Communist Party of Vietnam. C峄檔g s岷�n is the Vietnamese language translation of Communist.

Your disagreement with post No: 1 is valid. But, accepting the official Vietnamese Government position, as I did, is also valid. Political issues can get rather murky.

I don't know how deep your political discussions got over the beers. From my similar beery research, Party Members do believe that it is the Party's duty to control the Nation and it's people for the good of the people. Note, from my observation, the party has done reasonably well since 1995.

GaryFunk wrote:

The key to surviving in Vietnam is to know when to be a solider and to know when to be a diplomat.聽 Sincere gifts from the US also help.

One of the wisest observations that I have run into. I wish that i had been able to come up with that observation.

GaryFunk wrote:

60 years ago China supported the government of north Vietnam.聽 Now they may soon be at war and the US will be back to support all of Vietnam.

Yes, politicians are amazingly stupid and never learn from their massive past mistakes, especially when economic reasons are around.
Much of that being fat sacks of cash in their pockets whilst people die for causes or just because they're in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Politicians are more often a bigger enemy than the country they assure us is a danger, so I find the big fish in that particular pool more than a little loathsome.
I'm avoiding the actual politics as such subjects are very much unwelcome on this forum, but I'll be happy to share my take on what's going on by PM.

Fred wrote:

I'm avoiding the actual politics as such subjects are very much unwelcome on this forum, but I'll be happy to share my take on what's going on by PM.

One can not totally ignore politics. But, one also has to understand the culture of the country where one resides. My intent, is to describe and discuss how things, to a degree political, actually impact living in Viet Nam. My hope is that this understanding will help how we as foreigners interact with the Vietnamese public.

70 years old wrote:

Fred wrote:

I'm avoiding the actual politics as such subjects are very much unwelcome on this forum, but I'll be happy to share my take on what's going on by PM.

One can not totally ignore politics. But, one also has to understand the culture of the country where one resides..

Some political topics are essential in some countries as they can change the whole way an expat behaves or even save their lives if extreme events come to pass, but most political discussions end up as slanging matches with more red herrings than a red herring farm in Scotland, making the argument pointless anyway.

However, one general note is NEVER to believe what you're told by a politician until you've researched the lot carefully because what politicians generally tell you is what they want you to believe, and that isn't usually the truth.
That is an absolute truth for the external political situation surrounding Vietnam at the moment;
however, that's one for PM not the open forums because it's extremely likely to cause a bunfight.

It's interesting stuff to see how situations are engineered.