When Faced with a Choice
From: "Van" <atl_789@yahoo.com
To: "Vietnam Studies Group" <vsg@u.washington.edu
Sent: Monday, December 20, 2004 11:02 AM
Subject: when faced with a choice
Dear Group,
Unless you have freed your mind from worldly attachment, your heart of steel might melt at the sight of a parade of half naked children begging on the street. If the children are offsprings of your old friends and neighbors, you might feel like devoting this life and the next to try to improve their situation.
But you cannot help the children without indirectly helping an unaccountable, corrupt regime that rules over this misery.
Dear group, how should a person of conscience act?
From dduffy@email.unc.edu Fri Dec 31 08:51:17 2004
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 11:49:49 -0500
From: Dan Duffy <dduffy@email.unc.edu
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: when faced with a choice
Dear Van,
I haven't a clue. It seems to me that yours is a question with very individual answers. I stay out in my barn in the countryside like Nhat Linh did in the 1950s.
Maybe Thich Nhat Hanh has offered some general advice on this question, given that he is compassionate, helps Vietnamese people, and criticizes their government?
Dan
From mchale@gwu.edu Fri Dec 31 09:28:29 2004
Date: Fri, 31 Dec 2004 15:26:14 -0200
From: Shawn McHale <mchale@gwu.edu
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: when faced with a choice
To me, the answer is rather clear. If you are an ideologue, you don't help the children, and they continue to suffer. And one makes a political point. If you are a person of conscience, you realize that the regime in power should not control one's acts of conscience. To do so is to let a state define one's actions.
Of course, one's act of giving money, or helping out, is but a drop in the bucket. Children will continue to suffer. But that is not reason to stop acting on one's conscience. The true question is whether or not one acts to (falsely) salve one's conscience or not.
During the Vietnam War, some Buddhists in Vietnam helped refugees. Should they not have done that, as it aided and abetted the Thieu regime? No -- they were expressing compasssion regardless of what regime was in power.
In short: damn the powers that be.
I just read, on the Jakarta Post, that in the midst of one of the greatest instant tragedies in history -- the Southeast/ South Asia tsunami disaster -- the Indonesian military is still engaging in firefights, and still trying to track down, members of GAM (the Acehnese "separatist" movement). So, while tens of thousands are in danger of dying on Aceh, the Indonesian military is busy. . . trying to kill a few more in Aceh.
Talk about morally bankrupt. Then again, the Indonesian military, with its record of mass murder, has never been a moral exemplar. But the moral bankruptcy of the TNI should not stop anyone from contributing money and aid to help victims of the disaster.
Shawn McHale
Associate Professor of History and International Affairs
Associate Director, Sigur Center for Asian Studies
George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052 USA
From ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au Fri Dec 31 22:21:41 2004
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 17:24:15 +1100
From: Ben Kerkvliet <ben.kerkvliet@anu.edu.au
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: when faced with a choice
Shawn's approach is a good one. And I agree with him about the Indonesian military.
Ben Kerkvliet
From darlenedamm@mac.com Sat Jan 1 09:23:45 2005
Date: Sat, 01 Jan 2005 12:21:56 -0500
From: Darlene Damm <darlenedamm@mac.com
Reply-To: vsg@u.washington.edu
To: Vietnam Studies Group <vsg@u.washington.edu
Subject: Re: when faced with a choice
Dear Van and group,
I think often in life we are in situations where we want to solve a certain problem, but believe that in trying to solve it, our actions may have other negative consequences.
Here are some thoughts:
-- Some people believe that it is okay to help, as long as you do more good than harm. Sometimes it is hard to predict and measure the amount of good and harm you can create though, as our actions lead to changes we cannot imagine down the road. Following this path means accepting that we can't live perfect lives, but we just try our best and try to be aware of our actions and make educated choices that minimize harm and maximize good. If you believe this, you might consider finding a friend in Vietnam, or an organization that you feel is not corrupt to assist you in helping the children. I am sure many people on this list might have ideas for you.
--While whatever you do will imapct the lives of others, remember that they will be able to respond to your actions. Everyday other people make choices that impact your life, and you are able to respond to them. The Vietnamese people will respond to whatever you do too, negative or postive. In that sense your actions may matter less than you think/fear.
--I think that you would feel better about this situation if you could meet some people who work in the Vietnamese government today. I have had the chance to study and work with several Vietnamese government officials and I can assure you that they are not corrupt and they care just as deeply about the children of Vietnam as you do. While I am sure there are others who are corrupt, I think you would feel better if you could try to talk to these people and learn how they are helping children, and learn how they deal with corruption and the problems you raise. I would be glad to put you in touch with some people over email if it is helpful, or if you want to travel to Vietnam you can meet them in person.
With best wishes for a New Year!
Darlene