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> magine if South Vietnam had remained independent. If it had become a thriving prosperous free democracy That’s not obvious. For starters South Korea was a br

> magine if South Vietnam had remained independent. If it had become a thriving prosperous free democracy That’s not obvious. For starters South Korea was a brutal and oppressive dictatorship during and after the war (not that much better than NK). It only became a democracy about the same time (coincidentally) as the USSR began collapsing. Same as Taiwan for that matter… Also it’s a sample of one.. there are plenty of other countries where the US intervened that ended up not doing very well. > you can’t help but wonder About what? Waging the war indefinitely or direct invasion of North Vietnam? Because there weren’t really that many other options..

ViktorRay 2y ago
It’s not just a sample of one. You are forgetting about the Marshall Plan. About West and East Germany. About when the Berlin Wall came down. There’s no reason South Vietnam couldn’t have become like South Korea or Taiwan one day. We are all human beings and deep down aren’t we all alike and want the same things? https://youtu.be/5F_aHt34a-g https://youtu.be/5F_aHt34a-g
- wqaatwt 2y ago
  > You are forgetting No, I just don’t think they are applicable. Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam were are all very poor and rural Germany was one of the main industrial powers for the at least 50-60 years preceding WW2. > Marshall Plan the total inflation adjusted amount of grants and loans that went to Germany was equal to about 32 billion dollars. That’s less than the amount of economic aid US gave to Afghanistan since 2001. But yeah, I agree that there are no biological reasons preventing any poor or underdeveloped from becoming successful.
rayiner 2y ago
> That’s not obvious. For starters South Korea was a brutal and oppressive dictatorship during and after the war (not that much better than NK). So what? So were most European countries before they became democracies. Name a successful democracy that didn’t go through such a phase to consolidate the state?

ViktorRay 2y ago

It’s not just a sample of one. You are forgetting about the Marshall Plan. About West and East Germany. About when the Berlin Wall came down. There’s no reason South Vietnam couldn’t have become like South Korea or Taiwan one day. We are all human beings and deep down aren’t we all alike and want the same things? https://youtu.be/5F_aHt34a-g https://youtu.be/5F_aHt34a-g

wqaatwt 2y ago
> You are forgetting No, I just don’t think they are applicable. Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam were are all very poor and rural Germany was one of the main industrial powers for the at least 50-60 years preceding WW2. > Marshall Plan the total inflation adjusted amount of grants and loans that went to Germany was equal to about 32 billion dollars. That’s less than the amount of economic aid US gave to Afghanistan since 2001. But yeah, I agree that there are no biological reasons preventing any poor or underdeveloped from becoming successful.

rayiner 2y ago

> That’s not obvious. For starters South Korea was a brutal and oppressive dictatorship during and after the war (not that much better than NK). So what? So were most European countries before they became democracies. Name a successful democracy that didn’t go through such a phase to consolidate the state?