Hardly a sh!thole. Việt Nam is prospering. The difference year to year is pretty apparent. The government is "Communist" rather than communist. It is an authoritarian system but no worse than many others and much more amenable to capitalism and actually a lot less corrupt. The society is still too much clan based for a parliamentary democracy to work and there is not the regional differentiation of origins that makes our sort of federal system work. The government here is actually quite good for the society. It is nominally Communist but the Communists are Vietnamese and after the fanatic generation of revolutionaries has passed they are practical people. They know that Việt Nam has to be economically strong - the people have to be prosperous in order to avoid becoming a province of China.
My interpretation or understanding, is that Vietnam is a totalitarian country. Is that a fair statement? I understand they have made some free market reforms to their economic system. But I have been led to believe that concepts such as freedom of speech, or political satire or jokes against government officials, are not tolerated there.
Correct me if I’m wrong.