First Bullshiter: Communist Government of Vietnam

Congrats on being the first bullshiter on my blog, Commies. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll grab quite a few more spots.

My mom just showed me a youtube video of a Vietnamese woman pulling down her pants in front of some police officers in Hanoi that inspired me to write this blog. (now there's a sentence I never thought I'd write) This woman, who must be in her 50's or 60's, is part of a group of farmers who have come to the capital to protest the glorious work that APEC and the VCG (Vietnamese Commie Gov) has done in Vietnam. She pulls down her pants and screams "you want to search something? I'll let you search whatever you want"

To make a long story short, the government has basically stolen land and kicked farmers off their land in order to "develop". I am embarrassed at my lack of knowledge on this issue and turned to trusted google for information. However, the lack of information on the plight of these people frustrated me and made me feel helpless at the same time. These farmers have no desire but to work their own land and provide for their families have to watch their kids starve on the streets of overcrowded cities for years without any response to their grievances to government officials. This has been going on for about 10 years but the struggle has not been very known outside of Vietnam until recently With the boom of internet videos and news, the government has had to back off a little bit on their overt suppression of dissidents. Many of them have been captured, beaten, and killed for speaking out, yet they continue to risk their lives everyday to protest in a country that is notorious for its suppression of human rights, freedom of religion, and freedom of press/speech. Some of them travel from one end of the country to the other and show up everyday in front of government offices to protest and demand that their grievances be resolved. This of course is no small feat for poor farmers of little means. The truth is they have to other choice. They have nothing. They were literally thrown out on their backs. Although I have nothing to offer them, I felt like I needed to speak my mind in some form and contribute my thoughts to their struggle. However insignificant this blog is on the massive world of the world wide web, I can't sleep tonight unless I exercise the freedom of speech that I take for granted.

Now, understandably, the progress of a country depends on the government being able to make calls that fall under "imminent domain." However, stealing someone's land that they have worked for hundreds of years and simply kicking them off by force, without any explanation or compensation, to fend for themselves so you can build luxury high rises and golf courses where you can sip drinks and show your pink ring is a little bit much don't you think?

In my google search, I came across a blog by a student who went to participate in the APEC festivities in Hanoi. It went something like this: "omg...vietnam was so awesome, everything was hot and awesome, oh and they didn't let anyone in our party talk to any of the regular citizens on the street but oh well, everything else was so cool...omg me and my bff jill were having so much fun talking about how progressive vietnam has become...it's like so exciting!" GEE...I WONDER WHY they won't let you talk to the people you halfwit! But don't worry, when you drive past all the shacks and shantytowns on your way to your five star hotel room, you can use some government controlled newspapers to cover up the windows so the scenery on your road to 'progress' won't ruin your trip for you.

How ironic it is that these "proletariats", upon whose backs and corpses this government placed the burden of 'liberating' the country in the bloodbath of the Vietnam War, are once again being asked to sacrifice their life for the "party" and beloved "uncle HO". Without going into an endless tirade about who fucked up more in the war, the current administration's actions are completely moronic and outrageous. Their idea of progression is similar to that of a child cleaning up his/her room by throwing everything under the bed or in the closet. When any international attention is paid to the country these protester and dissident citizens simply "disappear" for the duration of the "guests" visit. If I have to hear about how much progress Vietnam has made and how great the country is now OR how amazing and liberating the 'revolution' was for the people one more time I might kill myself in the face. Speaking as a proud, as Big Pappa Billy O would say, "devil-worshipping secular progressive", I want no part of this 'revolution' if this is how it's going to "liberate" my people.

I call BULLSHIT on the Vietnamese communist government (and moronic tourists).

In solidarity.

giving in to the blog world

So this is my very first blog entry...ever. I've been wanting to create a blog for a long time but for one reason or another haven't. I guess I just had not found the right amount of inspiration. I always have too much to say about a myriad of issues from my daily life to world events and the general state of existence but the daunting task of expression has always thwarted me. However, tonight, after watching a very powerful youtube video (which I will discuss in further detail in my next posting), I became inspired. This is an experiment that I hope will succeed but who knows how much time I will be able to allocate from life for this blog. Being a high school teacher doesn't really give me too much free time but I'm hoping that with summer around the corner, I will have time for this blog to take off and hopefully ride the momentum. Let's just hope this "commitment" doesn't end up like my commitment to going to the gym. I'm not quite sure what the overall tone or theme for this blog will be yet and hopefully that will develop with time but for now..."ranting" is probably an adequate description.