Good Morning, Vietnam

"All the wrong people remember Vietnam. I think all the people who remember it should forget it, and all the people who forgot it should remember it".

-Micheal Herr, 1989

When Vietnam is mentioned, many almost automatically think of the famous images that illustrated the war that took place nearly four decades ago. That being said, you can imagine the reaction I receive when I mention to others that I will be visiting Vietnam this winter with a program called the Global Leadership Center.

The reality is that today, Vietnam is very much a country at peace. Full of progressive, modern businesses and beautiful beaches, more and more people are choosing Vietnam as a destination spot not only for it’s rich history, but also for the life and culture the area has to offer. As I will be researching Vietnam for the next eight weeks prior to our visit, and the title of my blog is “Heather Lately”, several posts on interesting Vietnam facts can be expected!

As I mentioned, Vietnam today should not be shadowed by the country’s history. However, one should never forget the struggles many individuals effected by the conflicts still go through. Please check out this video about the May 4, 1970 massacre and take a minute to think about those today who still mourn, both in American and in Vietnam.

    

"Stop, hey, what's that sound?"

"There is a loftier ambition than merely to stand high in the world. 

It is to stoop down and lift mankind a little higher"

-Henry Van Dyke

Sounds like an innocent statement right? On a personal level, it might be easily done, but it was apparent to me today in my Political Science class with Prof. Suzuki that the world has a long way to go

The prisoner's dilemma. Although many forms of this situation were discussed today (one of which involved stags and a rabbit...you can understand why I came up with my own version), I couldn't help but think of the old, low-budget television show Friend or Foe.

As with any game show, the major premise was to (what else) win money. How they went about filling their bank account is not relevant to my point but in the end, the top two contestants had to make one of two choices which, combined, came out to four outcomes. The choices were friend or foe and neither contestant knew prior to their choice what the other had or would pick. 

If both chose friend, they would split the money. If both chose foe, neither would get the money. If one chose foe and the other, friend, the contestant who chose foe would get the entire prize to himself. 

So what would you chose? For a single contestant's ideal outcome, he would chose foe, although this is in hopes that the other contestant would chose friend. For the best outcome for both, one would chose friend, but this is taking the risk that the other will not chose foe and, thus, take all of the winnings. 

The point is, you can never count on what the other person will do. So is it every man for himself, or do you try to be the "better" person? Is this situation proving the idea that "nice guys finish last" or is re-enforcing the fact that we can all come out a little bit better if we compromise.

If you've kept up, you can understand that the "prisoner's dilemma" is very similar to the world's "security dilemma".  Or even the world's struggle with capping ozone-eating smokestacks. In any case, it's hard to count on what