Was watching The Price Is Right Nighttime last night and during the Show Case part, three trips were in one Show Case. Thing is, one of the trips was to Vietnam. From what I know, all of Vietnam is communist today. Why would anyone want a trip to a communist country? Somone PLEASE explain this to me!
It's odd to see capitalism flourish under the label of "Communism." Communism got them out from under Marxism. Poverty has been greatly reduced because of their adoption of a quasi-capitalist economy. Many industries had been owned by the state, but once the "sort of" free market took off, their value skyrocketed and the State sold them to private ownership (this was 20 years ago.) It's an interesting dynamic. Do we engage in commerce with communist countries in the hopes that the benefits of capitalism will bring with it freedoms (like Vietnam)? Or do we take a more measured approach and not send our dollars to those who repress their own people and who want to destroy us (like China)? I guess each case is unique, and events should be monitored. Sadly, we got our own corruption at play when it comes to international relationships. Here is a brief-but-detailed discussion on the history of Communism in Vietnam, and its [weakened] current status there. Link
I still don't get it, but do have to fully agree with John on his reply. I have seen clothes marked "Made in Vietnam" and even wonder about that.
Ron Paul advocated trading with countries instead of trying to dominate them with out ideals. I had to laugh when an African leader basically called us nuts because some people over there were trying to push transgener-ism. When you think about it, 'our ideals' are not my ideals any more.
Since this is the travel and vacation site, I thought I would mention plane tickets. I don't get them often and used to use 'discount' sites like travelocity and hotwire. But the tickets I was trying to get were for my daughter's beloved. He is still in Vermont but wanted to come for daughter's birthday. He was going to drive out because he doesn't have a lot of money. (I would think the gas would be a lot of money) Anyway, he has off next week and tickets close to the date you are looking for them are usually very pricey. When I first looked, a round trip was up to $300 for budget tickets. I called daughter and boyfriend to make sure he would take them. When I went back to get them they were $345 so I immediately went to buy them and the price was up to $369!!! Nope no longer interested because a bag was on top of that and taxes etc.... Just on a whim, I went to an actual airline site and the price was $345, taxes and fees included! (still econo-budget) It sounded like they could be cancelled (not available with discount sites) with some sort of restock fee. So, you now HAVE to have a real id ( that has been postponed for more than a decade) and on filling out the passenger's info, it required GENDER and only had two choices. So are people who believe they are ponies or other sexual orientation not flying these days?