Vietnam is a land as mysterious as it is turbulent, as beautiful as it
is ambiguous. What one sees over and over again are two competing
elements in conflict with one another. From a psyche filled with
Communist visions of Utopia to a culture which is becoming more and
more willing to stand up to its ruling party, it seems that Vietnam is
in the midst of a great transition.
When many people
hear of the country Vietnam, they automatically think back to the dreadful
Vietnam War that sustained many casualties between the years 1954 to 1975. But, Vietnam is more than just a war. Vietnam is a place of its own that has its
own rich culture, history, life, people, and traditions that many people never
think to even look at or recognize. Vietnam’s
psyche, culture, and history have shaped Vietnam into the developing and
progressing country it is today. This
statement will try to give insight into the life of the Vietnamese from the
outside perspective.
In
the words of inspirational speaker and author, Ola Joseph, “Diversity is not
about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness,”
(2009). In-order -to fully embrace someone’s
uniqueness we must first educate ourselves on their psyche, culture, and
history, three factors which essentially make them who they are. When examining
an entire group of people, this task becomes much more challenging because
instead of exploring one being and their way of life we must make
generalizations on an entire culture of people.
To better understand and appreciate the Vietnamese people and their
traditions, I wanted to first try to understand their way of thinking, their
psyche.
For decades
Vietnam was a war torn country with a bad reputation. To Americans the thought of Vietnam was just
a scary, demoralizing place. It is not
somewhere someone would want to willingly go.
From the time that the United States forces withdrew from Vietnam they
spent years trying to build their country.
This task was hard when they were always involved in a war of some
type. Vietnam was once one of the
poorest nation in the world. Currently
they are experiencing an amazing economic boom thanks to the economic reforms
that were bestowed upon them in 1986.
This permitted the setting up of a free market system and the results
for Vietnam have been amazing. After
China they are the best performing economy in Asia. To better understand how Vietnam one must
understand their history, culture, and psyche of the Vietnamese people.
When Most Americans think of the
1960s and the early 1970s, they think of the Vietnam War. During the Vietnam War, more than 58,000 Vietnamese were
killed. The
American casualty rate was just as high (Rummel, 2008). The Vietnam War produced photographs, opposition, and
suspicion. Vietnam
has changed considerably since the 1970s. Focusing on the Vietnamese psyche, the culture, and the
history of Vietnam after 1975 uncovers a different view of the Socialist
Republic of Vietnam.
NTOU Project
