nocturne

It is late at night
And the North Star is shining.
The mist covers the rice-fields
And the bamboos
Are whispering full of crickets.
The watch beats on the iron-wood gong,
And priests are ringing the pagoda bells.
We hear the far-away games of peasants
And distant singing in the cottages.

It is late at night.
As we talk gently,
Sitting by one another,
Life is as beautiful as night.
The red moon is rising
On the mountain side
Like a fire started among the trees.

There is the North Star
Shining like a paper lantern.
The light air brings dew to our faces
And the sound of tamtams beaten far away.
Let us sit like this all night.

(Song of Annam, "Nocturne," p. 34-35)

they proudly brew

Sitting in a coffee shop in the 'historic downtown' of Bryan, Texas, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addresses the UN broadcast live on CNN. Other than that, I have scattered selected course materials for my political science courses on the table top next to my cup of mocha coffee of the Starbucks variety, "we proudly brew," it says. My goal for today is simple--to study for an examination in an ethnic conflict course--wherein the professor always seems to hint that democracy is the way to go, and summarize two articles concerning international institutions for another course.

Words of interest for today: authoritarianism, constructivism, horizontal, vertical, consociationalism, integrative democracy, hegemonic exchange, corporatism, primordialism, instrumentalism.

Here's a re-cap of last night:
- Damn, ants. I think I'll observe them for a bit. Can't burn them with a lighter, there's carpet. I need some Raid.
- Huh? They're carrying off my fingernail clippings. Better get the vacuum cleaner.
- Sweet, there's a 75% off selected items section at this 24 hour CVS. Wait, what was it I needed?
- Drats, why is the Raid so expensive? I guess I'll go for the anti-bacterial variety--that's a good way to kill the insect germs.
- Where's the cashier? Oh there he is. Hmm, he speaks in a monotone voice.
- Great, no more ants. I think I'll draw some pictures for fun.

idolizing ho chi minh, educating into capitalism

The title of this writing itself is an oxymoron—in that a government which propagates to its people the personality cult of its last great leader is training its citizens to function in a global society operating under the system of capitalism. This is not only ironic, but laughable as state-sanctioned booklets on the doctrine of Marxism-Leninism are still being published—which were intended to support the party in its use of powers of government to educate the proletariat to remove the notion of false consciousness which leads to economic exploitation of the worker (funny thing, the party is still suppressing the bourgeoisie institution of religion in regards to political attachments, while actively promoting nationalism—two other components of the notion of false consciousness).

Thus, the partial liberalization of Viet Nam’s economy may have some unintended (or intended, depending on whose perspective it is) consequences. Perhaps there is a reason behind the party’s decision to allow overseas Vietnamese who choose to contribute to the country’s economic development to have fifty year leases on land (temporary private ownership of land by the new bourgeoisie as opposed to Communism’s mandated collective ownership of land by the proletariat), and five year multiple entry visas. If the doctrine of Leninism holds true, another revolution is probably soon on its way to overthrow capitalism (once again) as reforming capitalism from within is stated as being doomed to fail—that is, unless the party is comfortable with having a flag with three stripes and a star in the foreseeable future. Perhaps this will aid the party in its doctrinal goal of achieving a stateless society (wherein it should probably go ahead and quickly convert the other members of the world economy to its ideology—Communism); imagine that, a world without borders.

the humanist meets the communist

Through light reflecting into the irises of two hazel-colored eyes, a reality, or aesthetic realization rather, begins to set in; it is difficult to describe what exactly is happening at first from the sheer awe of the senses—rays of sunlight drift through heavy cumulous clouds converging over the tops of the mountains in the distance. Multistoried structures, some homes, others lodgings, along with tour agencies and restaurants neighbor fields where various sorts of agriculture are grown—this is something that may be close to that state of visual perfection if it were to exist. There is one factor missing from the equation, however, and that is the simple question of who owns the life that happens here.

“So, I take it that you enjoy the photograph? It was a panorama taken from the vantage point of the rooftop of a hotel during a study trip to Sa Pa a year ago. I figured that a sepia tone would do this scene justice to convey a sense of past antiquity—in that what was in that one moment will never be as it was again.”

“Yeah, I never realized the beauty of a space, to generalize the objective into subjective terms, could be something like this—an ideal almost. There is one thing that has itching at the front of my mind since my eyes caught sight of this photo—the life there, at that very moment, could you tell me about it?”

“I take it that you are familiar with the terms, worker, landowner, and capitalist—all words common within the ideology of Communism, the political practice which the nation of Viet Nam was purportedly operating under at the time. The simple fact of the matter during that time was that the workers consisted of some of the ethnic local people, but the city itself was overrun by the non-local majority ethnic Kinh majority who preferred to hire their own. When I use the word some, I mean to say that these local ethnics were self-employed for the most part—that is to say that the women and children roamed the streets during the day to sell trinkets and some cultural artifacts produced for tourists, while the men loomed on street corner motorbikes. Similarly, it may have been the case that the land was no longer owned by the local people, but instead by the system of government legitimized by the region’s peoples because of the belief that equality and fairness would soon displace the hardships which they faced in their past necessary nomadic lives. In the same vein, businesses in the area are owned by the same non-local majority ethnic group, who may control the economic means of subsistence for those surviving under the universal monetary system—cultural hegemony, or perhaps even reverting to the stage of capitalism as one might call it.”

“From your explanation, the local ethnic populations in that time seemed to have lived under a system of false ethics wherein their individual human statuses and dignities have been altered based on an interpretation through the philosophy of Humanism. For it would be rational to assume from what information I have obtained from you that the life course of these people is determined by the social and economic policies of the few within the nation’s political society. In this sense, a lack of self-determination exists—therefore universal morality, if it exists, has not been applied equally to the native peoples of this area. You just mentioned that these peoples were nomadic prior to living their coerced, nearer to the present, sedentary lifestyles; this may suggest the loss of mobility on their part. Therefore, this entails a strain on knowledge acquisition—that is to say, their past beliefs of right and wrong are no longer sustained by their individual and joint interests; for with economic dependence may come cultural dependence and alienation. In this understanding, their individual potentials are being redefined to suit the needs of the dominant force that has injected itself into their traditional society. Therefore, another question which concerns me is how humanity is defined for the people living in the region.”

theory and action

As of late I've been learning about a lot of Marxist theories on work, production, and what not. It's very interesting--perhaps I will see where his view point fits through examples in contemporary society.

I will try and update tomorrow with a detailed entry attempting to correlate these thoughts to the social programming in Viet Nam based on the responses I received for my education survey, and perhaps incorporate the idea that few students read the actual primary texts which are supposedly a foundation for that society.

On another note, I think I would like to organize a month-long humanitarian relief research trip to Nicaragua with university funding. More on that later, and whether it is feasible or not.