People don’t take their citizenship seriously, it seems.

Look, man, if you’re up against someone who is, when it comes down to it, willing to use violence, and you aren’t… if the issue is serious enough that no other resolution presents itself as an acceptable compromise, the one willing to use violence is gonna win over the one who isn’t.

Violence is a hard and dangerous task to undertake, with uncertain prospects, especially in the context of societal action. But without the ability to resort to it in times of crisis, no rights are secure.

Vietnam is actually really good, as far as middle-income countries without functional democracy go.

But a high proportion of the workforce engaged in agriculture is not a good thing. Though I don’t think that 70% number is correct regardless. I think it’s considerably lower (which is better for Vietnam).

Damn, and I can’t even get one at 30.

We’re no less corrupt in the US, merely more expensive.

We’re very corrupt in the US. That’s not the same as being corrupt to the same degree. I… would encourage looking into the relative corruption of countries. We, in the US, are near the bottom of the the list as far as developed countries go (beaten out by only such luminaries as Italy and Greece), but we aren’t even close to as bad as it can get. We’re just more aware of our own corruption than of other countries. I mean, we are Americans. We’re barely aware of the existence of other countries, much less their corruption.

I mean, celebrate the revenge, for sure. Just don’t mistake it for decency. Vietnam is about as corrupt as India.

While celebrating a billionaire getting their just desserts is always fun, not really sure that this is a reflection of the decency of the Vietnamese government.

So… as soon as the society based on mutual aid starts?

Speaking entirely seriously, the reduction of societal relations in a capitalist economy to purely or even primarily material concerns conceals and denies the very real and very prominent place personal and cultural biases have. Oftentimes materially damaging movements are ignored until they begin to threaten cultural norms.