One of the annoyances I’ve experienced as an aspiring anthropologist are feelings of regret that cultures are changing at such an alarming rate and clambering to embrace western ideals and practices. I feel selfish for not wanting systems that have existed in other countries for perhaps thousands of years to disappear for the sake of globalization because, of course, studying culture through the lens of an anthropologist is a lot less interesting when the whole world is the same. But the reality of globalization, especially in developing countries, is that this connection with the first world is helping them out of poverty and into positions in which they can afford to live an easier life. Over the past several decades, Asia has exploded with population and productivity. As the world expands, sharing new technologies and strategies, developing countries have been transforming into a hive of worker bees, producing just about anything (made easier by the lenient and flexible policies governments have for starting up a business). Truitt explains in her article explains the significance of the motorbike in Vietnam; how they provide a small form of individual power within an authoritarian government and thus taking further steps toward globalization. Thanks to the increasingly connected world, countries like Vietnam are experiencing economic growth like never before and poverty levels are going down; cut almost in half. The symbol of the motorbike in Vietnam is especially significant in this regard; it is considered to be a social and economic status which has now become so common on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City and offer quicker ways to connect with the rest of the world.
I get the impression that the raw essence of Vietnamese culture is being drowned out by the roar of millions of motorbikes and the churning of western sponsored factories and the energetic buzzing of cellphones in everyone’s pockets. I feel pretty morally irresponsible for even thinking these things because globalization is bringing opportunities to people and families who might otherwise be trapped by never-ending poverty. I guess my fear is that Vietnam, a country rich in culture and intense history, is slipping away to make room for something “western”. The idea that a place like Vietnam might be dissolved into a world in which every country is increasingly more similar to the next, and the concept of “culture” may disappear forever is more than a little troubling. I believe that by trying not to expect anything, I will be able to see Ho Chi Minh City through eyes unclouded by anticipations and things I both do and do not understand in order to see the real thing, and I do not doubt that my perspective will change.