The Economics of Life

The economic disparity is very apparent to all of those who pay attention to their surroundings. I was made most aware of this on the bus rides to and from Halong Bay and Hoi An. Driving past these rural villages, the people evidently live a very different life from those in a city landscape. It appears to me that the middle class of the city would be upper class in a rural setting, likewise this is comparable of the lower class of the city being more of the middle class in a rural setting.

The distribution of wealth is the most dramatic within a city setting moving to a rural setting. I found myself wondering if the economic class of American Citizens is just as apparent to an outsider visiting the Untied States for the first time? I don’t believe that it is quite as dramatic except for in larger cities when you contrast the homeless with those working in high end industries and office buildings. I also feel that this is a different situation because the amount of people within each of those classes is much smaller in the United States. From my perspective, we have a much larger and growing middle class. Whereas in Vietnam, the middle class seems to just now be beginning to grow and evolve into one that is similar to that of the United States.

I also found that the gap was most apparent in the resident on Halong Bay. When we visited the fishing community I found myself asking a lot of questions revolving around their lifestyle choices. How do they drink water? They cannot drink the bay water, so is there a way to get a gas line to boil water? And starting a fire on a house boat just seems out of the question. Do they rely on more modern technologies upon shore to sustain their lives? These questions also apply to cooking food and medicinal issues. In the case of a severe medical emergency, do they just paddle one of those boats as fast as they can to shore for treatment or do they rely on other means? These questions have the simplest of answers to me as a resident of the Untied States and is something that I always take for granted. It takes visiting places like these to remind me how fortunate I am.

I also observed that most of the houses along the more rural roads are what I would consider a shack. They are made of basic scrap materials and metals and that’s all some of these people have. All of the previous issues also apply to them if they aren’t able to afford luxuries.

Many of the smaller houses along the main road were also enclosed with a fence wall. I noticed that many of the walls were concrete with glass shards dried into the top. The colors of the glass reflected beautifully in the light and I thought at first they were for decoration, then I realized that the glass is a cheaper form of barbed wire, used for security purposes. I think that something as simple as these cement with glass walls even further demonstrates the distribution of wealth and how people need to be resourceful with materials and money in order to have the lifestyle that they wish to.

I feel extremely grateful for everything that my parents have been able to give me and noticing the little things within this country has shown how differently people here live from how I am accustomed to living at home.

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