A Royal Solution for a Nationalist Vietnam
Today, Vietnam is experiencing a minor period of outward growth. Communist economic policies, proven to be ridiculous and harmful, are being dropped by even the most dedicated Communists, and capitalism is being introduced, with the Communist Party maintained only as a vehicle to exercise absolute control of the elite Party leaders over the common people.
What about the problems of Vietnam? The benefits being seen also hide a plague of tyranny and corruption that threatens the most basic foundations of Vietnam. There is still no political freedom at all. Personal liberty and civil rights are all but non-existent. There is no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion and human rights remain under the whim of the Communist Party.
Economically, Vietnam seems to be improving, but the outer appearance can be deceiving. Most people are still very poor and the foreign businesses established in Vietnam often function only to exploit the impoverished workers in need of a job. The attached corruption has mostly served to make the Communist Party officials richer and the Vietnamese people poorer.
However, the greatest danger to Vietnam is not easily seen. There is a lack of freedom, but the Vietnamese have endured oppression in the past, surviving the domination of China and France. Largely, this was accomplished because Vietnamese nationalism could always survive. Even during the long years of French colonization the Emperor remained and the national traditions were always carried out.
Today, however, things are much different. The Communist Party oppressing Vietnam today has worked hard to destroy the traditional national culture of Vietnam and replace it with the foreign culture of Communism, developed in Soviet Russia and Maoist China. There is no longer an Emperor or any group to preserve Vietnamese traditions, and keep them alive for all future generations. This threat is often called ?Cultural Colonialism?.
Many people in Vietnam, even former Communists, are becoming alarmed by the way the national heritage of Vietnam is being ignored and forgotten. It is also a constant threat to the exile community who must struggle to maintain their own ideals and traditions while living in a foreign environment. What can save Vietnam from this danger of Cultural Colonialism?
There are numerous ways to bring democracy to Vietnam, human rights and political freedom. All parties claim to support these things, all that is necessary is that they honor their promises. However, lasting freedom can only come for Vietnam if it is done in a way that recognizes Vietnamese heritage and traditions. To preserve the cultural independence of Vietnam, so vital to other aspects of the country, only the limited monarchy of the Imperial Nguyen Dynasty can succeed. Since, in truth, of what value is freedom at all, if the people lose sight of who they truly are? Only a government which upholds Vietnamese nationalism and personal freedom can fully succeed in restoring the Nation.
How have the Communists tried to solve these problems? They claimed to fight for the freedom and liberation of the people, but instead of showing patriotism, loyalty and brotherhood, they killed their own people, forced everyone to submit to a single political party and gave all of their worship to the foreign demagogues of Communism such as Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong; instigators of the massacres of tens of millions of people around the world.
The Communists claim to also be preserving the heritage of Vietnam through cooperation with UNESCO, to preserve and rebuild the sacred palaces, tombs and temples of Hue Imperial City. However, this is simple hypocrisy since the Communist Party defiles and ridicules the revered places and all they represent. They do not keep the culture alive, but display it behind glass in a museum in the same way a hunter displays a dead animal as a trophy for all to see. They show no reverence and no respect, but hold up the honored heritage of the Vietnamese for economic exploitation to benefit the Communist Party and glorify their dictatorship over the people.
The only way to solve these problems is by restoring to Vietnam a government similar to that proposed by the Vietnamese Imperial Family. There must be democratic elections for the people to choose, from among whatever party they wish, who will represent them in government. There must be a clearly written constitution that will be strictly enforced, and there must be the monarchy, to provide a focus for unity, an Emperor that is above all parties and political disputes, who can maintain the noble traditions of Vietnamese culture, care for all of his people regardless of their politics and act a symbol, through the succession of the dynasty, of the eternal values and principles of Vietnam that have existed since the founding of the nation thousands of years ago. The Emperor is a link to the past, and a living reminder of the historic and future greatness of Vietnam.