-^-for posterity-^-

i used to teach a business class that was for people involved in the government here. it was a mixture of wonderfully bright and engaging people that either worked in administration or in state-run businesses. the class ended and they suggested that we have a speaking club.

we meet every tuesday in the agriculture center of long xuyen. i drive my motorbike there, weaving through the marauding traffic. the building is at the end of a long road. it has a large blue sign out front and is about three stories high. we meet on the upper floor in a large conference room.

today the room was packed. there were about twenty to twenty five people there sitting around an oblong table. we all sat on those comfortable, grey swivel chairs that are made for a cubicle. in the middle of the table was a plastic arrangement of flowers. they were all orchids and they were all red. at the end of the table is a place for speakers to present. it is a large podium made of some sort of majestic looking wood. behind that and off to one side is a portrait of ho chi minh standing and smiling to a group of children. it is made out of lacquer and is quite life-like. behind the picture is a large, green curtain covering the entire front wall. the green curtain is made from a very metallic looking green material. it seems to have its own source of energy. in the middle of the green is a thick, red banner hanging from the ceiling. it flows and creates a sense of worth and presence. in the middle of the red banner hanging in front of the green banner are a giant yellow star and a giant hammer and sickle. they are well positioned and i figure that they would be just about exactly above the head of anyone giving a speech. they would frame the speaker nicely. above the two emblems is a large sign running the entire length of the front of the room. it is shiny. the background is vibrant red and the lettering is a mixture of gold and yellow. the sign says ‘the communist party is glorious forever.’

today we talked about sending technology jobs abroad. there was a recent article in the new york times about the new phenomena of sending computer programming jobs to India where people would work for a quarter of what americans would work for. this is creating quite a stir and some think tanks have predicted that, in three years, america stands to loose 3.3 million technology jobs. some people are worried that the ‘offshoring’ would end up removing america from the ‘top of the technology food chain.’

we talked about globalization and free trade and who benefits and who ends up getting the short end of the stick. i sit at the top of the table and talk about the article. i ask questions and we have a discussion. the topic ends up turning towards intellectual property rights. who has the right to say that their idea, their creativity must be bought and sold? the conversation is lively and we sip coffee and talk about generic drugs for hiv/aids patients and cheap dvds in ho chi minh city. the members of the speaking club are incredibly intelligent and argue very clearly in english, their second and, for some, their third language.

i tell them a bit about america’s history with free trade. i talk about nafta, japan and wal-mart. this new technology offshoring seems to just be another step in the cycle. our hour is up and i say goodbye to all of my friends. i will come back next week with another article that talks about china and america’s recent trade disputes. i said goodbye to the red, green and yellow wall in front of me, mounted my motorcycle and headed home.