"Vietnam has more freedom than we do here in America...", as stated by an individual in Yahoo! Answers / VN

which individual and where?

I'd rather learn about the original statement and its context and contribute there rather than answering this question :-).

If this is from MojaveDan, I believe such individual is currently living in the United States and is actually planning to have a honeymoon in Vietnam. However, I don't think such individual is qualified to make such a statement. Also other answers here seem to have captured my points well, so I'll stay away from this question. I'll be happy to get just 2 points. Getting 10 points answering this question would leave me a bad taste in my mouth :-).

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Thanks to MojaveDan for clarifying his position/comment/answer. That was a very good post and deserved 10 points. I am surprised at reading Ong Jon's answers, as obviously he might be oblivious of such events as Tiananmen. If there is one thing that I told my American friends about "freedom", it is this "Americans tend to take freedom for granted." MojaveDan hinted it as much: if you have had it for your whole life, you might not value it that much; you can only ask the value of freedom to people who have been deprived all or part of it for most of their life.

After living in many places in the world, whenever people ask me about the best thing about living in the USA, my answer is that at least I, not the government nor anyone else, have the biggest control over my life. To me, that is freedom.

Respectfully.

Some friends I met in Hanoi during my last trip to Vietnam questioned me about American freedoms. I couldn't answer then at the time, because I was overwhelmed in how free the Vietnamese people seem to be in a country that is still controlled by communism. I am much better able to answer that question after I spent a few days in Saigon. Those experiences made me realize how free Americans are, and made me very proud to be an American.

The explanation of Vietnam having the perception of more freedom than Americans requires two explanations, because freedom is perceived differently from those who live in North Vietnam as opposed to those in the South. The war ended over 30 years ago, but the country is still divided on this issue.

I was surprised to see how easy it was for communism to control a whole country. You don’t have to stick a gun to everyone’s head. You simply take away freedom of press and freedom of religion. Communism relies on massive brainwashing to keep the people in control. If the people know and hear only thing, then that is what they will believe. This is what’s prevalent in Hanoi and North Vietnam.

The communist government has gradually relaxed the grip on the Vietnamese people since they abandoned central control economy in 1985. Any freedom would seem like a lot when you have never experienced freedom before and you’re brainwashed into believing that you have a lot of freedom. This is partly why the North Vietnamese think they have more freedom than Americans. The Vietnamese don’t have income tax and don’t pay sales tax, which is another common argument that Vietnamese people have more freedoms.

The South Vietnamese don’t believe that they are free enough, and most despise the communist government that controls them. The older generation had freedoms before the fall of Saigon, and had seen the horrific things that the communists did to their own people. You cannot bottle up freedom once it’s been experienced. The communists had tried, but are failing even though they will not admit it. The South has been instrumental in the gradual decline of communism, which will soon fall in all of Vietnam.

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It appears that I’m a target of some controversy. Rather than debate the issues on a Q&A site, I welcome you to express your opinions on a forum instead. Here’s a link to my turf:

http://www.highdesert.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=21...

or go to

http://www.highdesert.com/

STATE, NATIONAL and WORLD EVENTS

VIETNAM THEN AND NOW

i didn't relize my friend "mo dan" made thet accertion.. i thought you were taking about me.. as i made a similare comment..

no question ,when the viet namese talk of thier government they speak in wispers[ the 1rst time i saw that is when i most regretted not winning the war]..... but there is a lot to be said for communism... it is certainly not the evil monster we were taught to belive when i was a child... at least not in theory... everyone chips in and does their part and then everyone enjoi what benefits sre reaped[ just like any well ajusted family]... in a country where MANY people are not educated that is probably the best system... an uneducated person will get swallowed up alive in the "dog eat dog "competetive capitolistic world.... viet nam is getting more educated .. and more capitialistic... viet nam is a slow and methodical society.. that is how they won the war by being patient with a good plan.. i have faith more and more freedoms will appear in viet nam soon... i see the newspaper is more open all the time . about 3 years ago there was an artical critisizing the government for the shoddy work that was done on a sea wall causing it to colapse.. you would not have seen that story 10 yrs ago.... 2-3 more generations viet nam will be as "ducked up" as the usa. lol! in my comment about freedoms in viet nam i was refering to simple things like riding a bike without a helmet,[ i know its changing], walking in caverans without security guards all around... taking a pee in the street if need be[ you laugh but even when NO public toilets are available [ as in nyc] you can get a ticket or get arrested for that !!!! what are you supposer to do.. the usa has more laws than any other country and its getting more restrictive all the time.. in viet nam i feel truely free as a bird.[ but of course i dont live there and th gov aint up my A&$ as they are here] . sure i cant curse out the governmrnt in public over there as i can here ... but it does me no good to do it here??? ... its a useless freedom??[ i often wondered why communist countries are restrictive in that area.. it dont matter what the little guy on the street says anyway the ones in power do what they want whatever the type of government]... i rather have the freedom to pee in the street.. at least it could be usefull!

Vietnam has more freedom than in US?? Here is a test for free speech:

Test1) Goto Washington DC, stand in front of the White House and shout loudly that I am a communist.

Test 2) Go to Saigon, right after you show your passport to VN custom, tell him/her that you work for CIA.

The result of these tests will show you where has more freedom

obviously no, when all of their news is way way more censored than in the US. At least here in the US you can search around to find the different answers that you want. Over there, no you can't. Also we have the freedom to say whatever we want. You can't do that over there.

Example: I went on a day tour over there that was not entirely ran by the government. The man that was leading our tour posed as a motor driver. Every time we were by any Vietnamese people we were not allowed to talk to him. He was not allowed to get that kind of job because he went to prison and it said "Christian" on his ID.

In the ways you mention, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of peaceable assembly and freedom of the press are not freedoms in Vietnam or freedoms in the way we believe them to be. In most cases the government says that they are all freedoms but then they control the scope and depth of the freedom. Creating limits, in what they profess and many Vietnamese believe is for the "good of the people". It reminds me of my parents when they said, " your free to do anything you want because we know you understand what you shouldn't do" or "come in when ever you want as you know it's school tomorrow and you need a good nights sleep".

Though to the casual visitor to Vietnam it seems a wide open and free wheeling country but behind it all is the puppet master pulling the strings.

People still disappear and still others are placed under house arrest for attitudes that conflict with the state. You go out to visit your favorite club for a drink and you find a chain on the door as the governments moral police came in and shut it down during the previous night. You can get cable but only certain channels, some web sites aren’t available in Vietnam and even some internet shops all of a sudden are shut down with out a word or reason why.

When you check into a hotel they hold you passport and notify / register you with the local police. Your visitors are requested to surrender their ID cards to the front desk while they visit you.

When President Bush talks of increasing the powers of the government to "protect us" I get shivers down my spine, as this is the same line I hear in Vietnam. Doug

I disagree. Cause the regime of Vietnam has not changed.

They do not have the right for religious freedom.

So just visa versa with our right's for freedom Vietnam does not have it.

If it ever will pass for freedom is unknown. But human rights organizations are taking the political agenda and figthing for the rights of humans in Vietnam. Hope this answers your question?

Vietnam has more Vietnamese people than we do here in America.

that's probably what they meant to say before they were censored.

i dont feel any freedom in VN, but i feel safety and enjoyful there.

no