Something Indescribable

I buy my breakfast from a woman just outside the compound for 3,000 VND (approximately $0.20). At night, I usually purchase a plate of coconut-and-milk-covered rice from a cheerful old lady across the street for 5,000 VND ($.30). All day, I meet people who make about $2 a day (usually less). Yet, being here has made me realize that the line between inescapable poverty and nascent prosperity is razor-thin; the side on which I place most people depends more on me than them. When I look into the eyes of someone selling bread for 3,000 VND or coffee for 7,000 VND, I can’t tell if they’ll be doing this forever or if it’s just the foundation of something much better. Although millions and millions do, nobody here looks like they think they’re living in poverty; it’s enviable.

Vietnam’s per capita GDP hovers around $650 and Saigon provides countless glimpses into the millions who make far less. At the Nike Factory, Ms. Nguyen, my liaison, and I spoke mostly about the reasons behind Vietnam’s attraction of foreign capital. What she said was echoed the next day by an American diplomat, and the next in The Saigon Times.

Something indescribable.

I’m going to spend the next few weeks (actually months if you count UF) figuring out what that “something indescribable” is. Ms. Nguyen put it best when she said, "Each worker realizes that his success depends on the success of the person sitting next to him." She also commented on Vietnam’s competitiveness as a market for Third World labor:

“If Vietnam slows down, another country will pull ahead. We have to be aggressive.”

Vietnamese know that there’s cheap labor everywhere and that they’re in no better position than any other developing country. It’s that “something indescribable” that keeps FDI at record heights – and here’s the most fascinating component: in my opinion, Vietnam’s competitiveness as a premier destination for FDI derives from its socialist legacy. Images of Ho Chi Minh line the streets, not just in Saigon, but everywhere. He’s symbolic of Vietnam’s unshakable will to win, and it’s the people’s adoration of "Ba Ho" that impels them to work harder and put their collective fate first. Its history of anti-capitalism has made Vietnam the capitalist Dragon it is today. When you’re working for something greater than yourself, something you’ve believed in your whole life, you work harder; you work better.