April 30, 2005

LA Times: Communist Vietnam has a Flourishing Economy?

“The firmly Communist nation has a flourishing economy”—that’s what the subhead of an article in today’s LA Times says.

War Is History for Vibrant Vietnam
Thirty years after the fall of Saigon, the firmly Communist nation has a flourishing economy, social freedom and deep ties with the U.S.

Wait a second—a Communist country with a flourishing economy? Is that possible? Or is the LA Times just trying to pull another fast one?

Hmmm…. As Patterico often points out, the LA Times likes to hide the facts on the back pages. Let’s turn to page A8, where the article continues.

Isn’t that interesting: the first thing you see on page A8 is a photo of a man with this caption: “INVESTOR: Henry Nguyen returned to Vietnam as a venture capitalist to develop businesses there.” Hey, investors and venture capitalists are illegal in Communist economies. What’s the Times mean by saying Vietnam is Communist?

Reading the article on page A8:

Its economy, a mix of Karl Marx and Adam Smith, has the highest growth rate in Southeast Asia.

Okay, so the Times is claiming there’s something Marxist about the economy. But what?

Private enterprise is flourishing, a middle class is growing, poverty rates are falling. The United States is a major trading partner, and Americans are welcomed with a warmth that belies the two countries’ history.

Private enterprise? In a Communist economy?

Urban youth have opportunities undreamed of in their parents’ time. Many are studying English — their grandparents learned French and their parents Russian or German — and flocking to colleges, generally indifferent to the Communist Party unless they want a government job.

The students are indifferent to the Communist Party in economic matters. Where’s the communism in the economy?

[The students] have the freedom to do just about anything they want except promote political change, and they don’t appear interested in that.”

The party that has given its people economic and social freedom has not yielded on political freedom. Ultimate authority still rests with the Communist Party’s Politburo in Hanoi. Its 15 members are not accountable to anyone but themselves, and criticizing their decisions would be considered a serious crime. No one expects significant political reform to come soon.

Okay, so there’s nothing Communist about the economy. The subhead of this Times article is a sham, an attack on our belief in our Capitalist economy, and an inaccurate praise of Communism. Once again the editors at the LA Times have tried to pull a fast one on their readers.

The author of the article doesn’t appear to be to blame at all. All the facts are well-reported. The editors appear to be responsible for this sham, by their phony subhead.

The subhead could just as well have been: “Capitalism Brings Vietnam Out of a Communist Dark Age.” The following is text quoted directly from the same LA Times article:

The so-called Dark Years of the postwar period ended in 1986. That’s when Hanoi’s aging leadership, facing famine, international isolation and national disillusionment, followed China’s lead and adopted, without great enthusiasm, a policy known as doi mo, or “renovation,” to move toward a more open economy. Some experts believe that nothing less than the survival of the Communist Party — perhaps of Vietnam itself — was at stake.

The results were dazzling. “It was as though the people knew just what to do without missing a step,” said Virginia Foote, president of the Washington-based U.S.-Vietnam Trade Council.

Thousands of shops and small businesses sprung up. Within a decade, Vietnam had become the world’s second-largest rice exporter, cut inflation from 700% a year to single digits, made plans for a stock exchange in Ho Chi Minh City and attracted investors from the United States, Australia and Taiwan.

The LA Times: read it for the sports, the weather, the movie section—but when you read its political coverage, remember it’s just an experiment in mind control.

Update: Welcome to readers of Patterico and Oh, That Liberal Media!