First Impressions Vietnam

Saigon (called by government officials "Ho Chi Minh City") is easy to fall in love with. The French influence in the architecture, the food, and friendly people are all easy to like. Also, the road follows its own rules. There are four way stops without traffic lights, and people manage just fine without them.

Motorbikes

Motorcycles and motorbikes are the primary means of getting around. They move like schools of fish, and this makes crossing the road fun. Rather than wait for a light to turn and disturb everyone, you wait for traffic to lighten up and you walk across. That's right. You walk out into oncoming traffic. The schools of bikes simply move around you, and you can generally navigate the cars and buses, when they are there. While most of the other Americans are screaming about inefficiency, I see a vibrant and intelligent way of getting to where you want to go (Down With Red Lights!!!). The most important thing to remember when crossing the street is not to stop and not to suddenly change speed. The motorbikes will come almost to your ankles, they are that packed together, but they manage to time everything because of your predictable moves.

Class

We had a slew of speakers talk about Vietnam today, and even one general pessimist about Vietnam (who was himself Vietnamese). They were all interesting. In a nutshell, Vietnam is a filled with contradictions. You can open bank accounts and transact in gold in many places in Vietnam. There is a vibrant informal economy. However, the government attempts to strongly control the monetary regime, foreign investment opportunities and ownership are limited, and the Communist Party exhibits some of the strangest forms of corruption. However, the Vietnamese obsession with owning land and gold is wonderfully libertarian. The southern Vietnamese especially tend to be a lot like the American South. Vietnam is still dirt poor and will continue to remain that way for a time because of the obvious socialism. However, it is managing to develop to a degree and there are signs of improvement, especially in the stories that people tell. I'm already attached to the people around here that I really hope for the best.

American has troubles coming from its inability to pay its massive debt (especially the unrecorded unfunded liabilities). When one-fifth to one-fourth of the world's economy goes into a worse depression than it is in now and massive global adjustments have to be made, I have a hard time imagining what could be possible. The best thing that could happen would be for America to slash all of its welfare spending, eliminate unconstitutional departments, and default on its debts, with a Constitutional amendment that says it cannot issue debt (of course, being an anarchist, this is only the beginning of what I would like to see). Of course, we know that when booms are followed by busts, people erroneously blame the market. This is where the importance of a good economic education plays.

The Rest of the Story

Anyway, aside from those musings, shortly after class time ended, we moved out into the city. I went out to a tailor, helped some of the guys pick out shirts and suits, and ordered myself a very nice suit. I'm so nervous. This is really taking a leap for me. Conspicuous consumption like this does not often fit my mode of thinking or operating, but I decided to take a risk. Afterward, I got back, sent out my laundry, and then had a great workout. Altogether, a productive day.

I really wish I could do more philosophy.