i find it curious that the vietnamese wear and feature america in light of 1954-1975 and perhaps more if you get into more of the fine points of when and how the empire tore them up.
@Dudley: Poor people of the world are under the spell of the US soft power influence which keeps them fantasizing America as paradise, as the land where roads are paved with gold. The US's very efficient public relation apparatus aimed at the world, together with its status as a superpower help perpetuate this image. In the case of Vietnam, no amount of historical and political education by the government will convince its poor and naive people otherwise. History be damned, because the time have changed. They will be very happy to swallow everything American if it is presented to them on a plate decorated with the letters USA and the picture of Mickey Mouse. The phrase Vietnam wins the war but the US wins the peace comes very close to the truth. However, in this picture, it is possible that this woman is totally unaware, not knowing what she is wearing, not even know what that flag is and what the word "America" means.
A few years ago I went over to the local country club to hit some golf balls. The parking lot was filled with BMW, Benz, Land Rover and Cadillac autos. When I got to the pro shop there were 8 or so chubby Vietnamese guys standing by their carts ready to tee off for the city Vietnamese Golf Tourney. There were 200 or so guys and women and they all had new Callaway bags and sticks, they were puffing cigars and laughing and laughing. In my Midwest town the Vietnamese came in '75, lived 25 to a house, paid it off in months without borrowing money and soon owned business districts, neighborhoods and manufacturing. 96% of them are good people. They live the dream and the woman in the photo is probably an aunt. The poor people in the US are nearly 100% bad-decision masters, ill, addicted, lazy, or from a family which is.
"The US's very efficient public relation apparatus aimed at the world..."
It's called Hollywood.
Speaking of people not knowing what their shirt says or means, here in Portugal I saw an old peasant grandma at our ancient cathedral's Sunday services wearing a too-large tee-shirt that had on it a huge drawing of a handlebar moustache with a large block-letter caption reading: "Free Moustache Rides."
4 comments:
i find it curious that the vietnamese wear and feature america in light of 1954-1975 and perhaps more if you get into more of the fine points of when and how the empire tore them up.
@Dudley: Poor people of the world are under the spell of the US soft power influence which keeps them fantasizing America as paradise, as the land where roads are paved with gold. The US's very efficient public relation apparatus aimed at the world, together with its status as a superpower help perpetuate this image. In the case of Vietnam, no amount of historical and political education by the government will convince its poor and naive people otherwise. History be damned, because the time have changed. They will be very happy to swallow everything American if it is presented to them on a plate decorated with the letters USA and the picture of Mickey Mouse. The phrase Vietnam wins the war but the US wins the peace comes very close to the truth. However, in this picture, it is possible that this woman is totally unaware, not knowing what she is wearing, not even know what that flag is and what the word "America" means.
A few years ago I went over to the local country club to hit some golf balls. The parking lot was filled with BMW, Benz, Land Rover and Cadillac autos. When I got to the pro shop there were 8 or so chubby Vietnamese guys standing by their carts ready to tee off for the city Vietnamese Golf Tourney. There were 200 or so guys and women and they all had new Callaway bags and sticks, they were puffing cigars and laughing and laughing. In my Midwest town the Vietnamese came in '75, lived 25 to a house, paid it off in months without borrowing money and soon owned business districts, neighborhoods and manufacturing. 96% of them are good people. They live the dream and the woman in the photo is probably an aunt.
The poor people in the US are nearly 100% bad-decision masters, ill, addicted, lazy, or from a family which is.
"The US's very efficient public relation apparatus aimed at the world..."
It's called Hollywood.
Speaking of people not knowing what their shirt says or means, here in Portugal I saw an old peasant grandma at our ancient cathedral's Sunday services wearing a too-large tee-shirt that had on it a huge drawing of a handlebar moustache with a large block-letter caption reading: "Free Moustache Rides."
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