Are these photos are a protest? No, not a protest. The photos you are viewing in this post are not created by a demonstration. This is the scene of millions of Vietnamese pouring into the streets to celebrate the victory of the Vietnamese football team at this year's AFF Cup. These are just representative images, in fact almost every city is in this situation right after winning the championship.
Statistically, 31 people died from joining these crowds on the night of victory. And by comparison, in Hong Kong with many protests taking place over a period of 7 months, the death toll could be only 12. But in Vietnam one night 31 people. How ironic.
Unfortunately, this huge number of people poured into the streets just to celebrate the victory, for their joy in a sport, not to claim the rights that were stolen. Nor can I hope for more because maybe they don't know what they should be enjoying & and these rights have been stolen by who.
it would be hard to organize such protests... some are really passionate about the country, and only in the city there might be many people who know better. they were raised and told how big heros ho chi minh was. they find any activist on facebook and silence them. outside news wont reach them, as most dont even know english (i was surprised how little english people knew). too few look for alternative decentralized solutions like steem, that does not betray the user for profits.
Liking America:
When I lived in Vietnam, I talked to the Vietnamese people for five years, some of the people said they liked America, freedom, smaller government, not socialism, not tyranny, not China.
Ho Chi Minh
Some Vietnamese told me they understood the bad things that Ho Chi Minh is accused of doing. But I guess I don't know how many people don't know enough. So, you might be right that only a few people here and there know.
Ten Percent
But then again, America became a country with only ten percent or less of the people fighting England in the 1700's to become the United States. Yeah, it is a long story, but I am trying to say that it did not take every American or every person to win. It may have been as little as two percent. Maybe up to ten percent of the people. I say this to say that maybe it doesn't take every Vietnamese person to improve things in Vietnam.
One Person Can Make a Difference
Yes, more people is better. But each person counts. Each person matters. Also, I was told many times that many Vietnamese people know many things but do not say it.
Silent
They stay silent. But they seem to know. And sometimes, in private, they talk about what they know with family, friends, etc.
History, They Know
So, it seems that some people all over Vietnam know many things about the history of Vietnam, the good people, the bad people, and what happened exactly. I cannot say that HCM never did good things. Maybe HCM did do some good things. Maybe HCM changed. Maybe China replaced HCM with an impostor. I don't know. (toi khong biet)
Bad HCM
But I know HCM murdered people in villages, people who refused to fight in his army against South Vietnam. HCM promoted a big government.
Problem With Big Government
And big government can only be good if the people in the government are always good. But people are not always good. And people are not always perfect. People make mistakes. That means that when government grows, then the corruption grows.
Fictional Utopia
So, that can be a problem. So, the utopia of big government is fiction, like a fantasy, like hypothetical. So, I prefer free markets. I promote making governments smaller and smaller. I promote free speech. Some people in Vietnam understand some of that.
@joeyarnoldvn If 10% could fight by taking to the streets, that would mean 9 million Vietnamese. An extremely large number, I only hope to 1 million. They know, yes but they have lived in fear for too long or they have become too selfish and just thinking material or career. They are indifferent to everything around them, as you can see they are always quiet even though the level of pollution in Hanoi was the largest in the world on December 14, 2019, and they do not have clean water to use for more than a month they still docile & quiet.
@maxsieg In my country except for the older generation, I believe many people know and hate the current regime. However, they wait for a hero to come to their rescue, and they always believe that they do not have that ability. Perhaps that belief was installed in their heads with fear and selfishness. Those are the people fit for a long-term dictatorship!
Is that the main reason for face masks? The pollution?
I remember reading somewhere saying "Silence is an accomplice to evil, evil". So pollution when consider to the end then the fault of the silence of the people!
That's interesting.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/vietnam-battalions-cyber-armies-silencing-online-dissent-200116235037858.html anh chi is stealing ur job :P
Follow Back
Very willing and thank you for coming here.
Note: I followed you! :)
Power to the People:
There is a lot of power in protesting. Are enough people aware that they might die if they go out to an event like this?
Dangers
Generally people are not taught about the dangers of large crowds. When a lot of people are together, it becomes virtual anarchy in some ways. It becomes a potential war. Things can go wrong. It depends on what kind of people are in the crowd. If you have a wide variety of people in the crowds, then that can be a recipe of disaster because you end up having small people, tall people, old people, young people, strong people, weak people, etc. So, people run over other people. And people fight people.
Black Friday
This happens during Black Friday. People die when a lot of people go shopping a day after Thanksgiving each year. People get hurt. Same thing with concerts.
Hong Kong
People should march for freedom like they do in Hong Kong. Actually, secret Chinese police pretend to be protestors in Hong Kong and do bad things to make the protestors look bad. And some of the cops kidnap some of the protestors.
Secret Police
They take many protestors to buildings near the border and torture them. Of course, the media is not going to talk about that because they are fake news and they support China and not Hong Kong. So, many people are dying in Hong Kong. But they are not talking about it.
Fake News
They won't tell you the real numbers. It is bigger than you know. Many different things are happening at the same time. But yes, more people should protest corruption, especially in Vietnam.
Fearing People
Government fear the people more than they know.
Yes, I believe the death toll in Hong Kong during the recent protests is certainly more than the number I have given in this post.
Difference
Hong Kong people have lived for a long time in the separation of powers and universal suffrage system. This is completely different from Vietnamese and mainland Chinese, so Hong Kong people will try to protect and preserve it and most Vietnamese and mainland Chinese don't think about it.
Dangers
I think people who join the crowd are often unaware of the dangers, as you said we are often not taught about.!
Upvoted by @aagabriel for having similarities to the #informationwar tag, posts like this anyone can add the tag #informationwar so we can more easily find and upvote them! (by @aagabriel)
Ways you can help the @informationwar!
Thanks a lot!