NAME: Ira Grupper
EMAIL: irag@iglou.com
DATE: 03/11/2009

TITLE: VIETNAM

LABOR PAEANS—March 2009
by Ira Grupper
(published by FORsooth, newspaper of Louisville, Kentucky chapter of F.O.R. [Fellowship of Reconciliation] )

VIETNAM

There we were, sixteen of us, all of us citizens of the United States, in Vietnam for fifteen days. All of us socialists, one born in France, now a Vietnamese American; another, originally from Columbia, and still another currently living in Austria. The rest of us, a mix of white and African American, women and men, the youngest of us thirty nine years old, and the oldest eighty two. And our whole group, so eager with anticipation at our adventure, from the very end of December 2008 thru mid-January 2009.

Half of us were members of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS). The rest, independent socialists or members of other groups. This was the first journey any of us had made to Vietnam.

Three changes of planes enroute (four on the return), and your columnist could think of nothing but the Vietnam War, or rather, as it is called in Vietnam: the American War. So much shame, and yet your scribe had never picked up arms against his Vietnamese sisters and brothers.

But U.S. mass murder of Vietnamese, and that is not too strong a term for our cruelty, was done in the name of the people of the U.S.A., all the napalm, the phosgene, the dioxin, the unspeakable Agent Orange we visited upon a mostly-rural farming population. So many place names flashed across the brain: Phu Bai, Khe Sanh, My Lai, and more.

We landed at Noi Bai International Airport (Hanoi), from a number of planes at different times, and were welcomed by Mr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, our guide from the tourist agency that is the sister organization to the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU), our official Vietnamese sponsor.

Your correspondent has had the good fortune to have visited a number of countries on several continents, yet never has he been on a more well-organized tour. There were tourist venues, and there were meetings with/tours of the VWU, Vietnam American Union of Friendship Societies, a clothing factory and its labor union, students at Da Nang University, and so much more. We were mostly in Hanoi, Da Nang, Hue, and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon).

But we also toured Ha Long Bay (“Bay of the Descending Dragon”) , north of Hanoi and relatively near China, where beautiful limestone mountains magically arise from the sea. Our tourist boat, shaped like a Chinese junk, delivered us to the foot of one mountain, and we climbed (and climbed) about four stories- worth of steps dug into the mountainside.

We entered, lo and behold, a grotto, with its magnificent and alluring geological shapes all around us. We have the gorgeous Mammoth Cave here in Kentucky, but your scribe has never been to a grotto before, nor to a mountain coming out of the water.

We met with women from the Vietnam Women’s Union branches in Hanoi, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, to learn about their goals, progress that has been made in women’s emancipation, and work to be done. The VWU assigned Ms. Tran Thu Thuy, a high-ranking personage, as our tour leader, evidently attaching much importance to this visit from American socialists (“Twee,” as she asked us to call her, has a masters degree from a U.S. university).

Our visit to a VWU project in a rural part of Da Nang City began with a dance presentation by very talented local women. These were mostly middle-aged women, so dignified and proud to share their culture with us. Da Nang was, of course, where the U.S. built a huge airbase from which filled with bombs and napalm and more left full and returned empty. And now we are seeing dancers.

The residents, men and women, asked us a number of questions. This being a VMU “project for gender equality,” we asked our hosts one question: We have been told that both women and men work outside the home. When the man and woman come home at night, does the couple both cook dinner and clean, etc., or does the man sit down, watch his wife work, and then talks about gender equity?” Well, there was a moment of silence, then the women and men burst out laughing, and all the women, and some men, applauded.

Interestingly, we passed by three “self-contained” resorts under construction in Da Nang, adjacent to the South China Sea. What will happen to these resorts when the worldwide depression hits Vietnam?

And that was one reason your columnist was so anxious to travel to Vietnam. In 1985 the Vietnamese economy was in bad shape. The U.S. embargo of Vietnam, so similar to our stranglehold of Cuba, was bad enough. But the U.S.S.R. was in deep economic trouble, and Vietnam’s close ally, Cuba, could not support Vietnam’s needs.

So the Vietnamese instituted a policy of Doi Moi (“renewal”), allowing foreign investment. In essence, capitalist development was being allowed in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. This is not the place for elaboration. Suffice it to say some, not all, in Vietnam have likened the concept to Lenin’s New Economic Policy of 1921 to prevent the Russian economy from collapsing. It allowed some private ventures and small businesses to reopen for private profit while the state continued to control banks, foreign trade, and large industries.

But Vietnam knows that with private capital comes danger. The law in Vietnam, we were told, prevents workers from working more than five days a week. The government caught some companies working their employees seven days a week, and put a stop to it.

With private capital comes the possibility of layoffs. We visited a large privately-owned clothing factory. One of their customers is Wal-Mart. What happens if (when) Wal-Mart hits the economic wall and ends its contract? Will the workers get laid off?

There is no social safety net in Vietnam, a very poor country. No unemployment insurance. Yet, the is a safety net which laid off workers in the U.S., if ever the truth can get out, would envy. Medical care is of good quality, and free. If you, or your children, study hard and can get into a university, room and board, and books and tuition, are free. If you are an ethnic minority, you get an additional stipend.

Your humble scribe went to Vietnam and discovered that the Vietnamese people seem to have no animosity, no bitterness toward Americans. Three visits to Nicaragua, starting in the 1980’s, and we heard so many Nicaraguenses say: there is a difference between the American people and the American government. But still there was bitterness, and understandably so.

This was not the case in Vietnam, and we still cannot fully understand this. Perhaps the words of a spokesperson from the veterans group at the Cu Chi tunnels best explained it, and I paraphrase: you Americans are not our first invaders. We fought the Chinese, the Japanese, the French—twice, before you invaded us. What we want is peace. True peace and friendship

Your columnist left Vietnam with peace in his heart. Peace wishes for the Vietnamese people. Peace for all peoples. Peace, especially, for the people of Vietnam. Lord knows, they deserve peace.

Contact Ira Grupper: irag@iglou.com


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