Why Capitalists love Communists

A new article from the Washington Post explores why it is that “American” corporations are rushing to invest in Vietnam.

According to a report by Keith Bradsher in the New York Times last
month, such multinational companies as Canon (the printer and copier
maker) and Hanesbrands (the North Carolina-based underwear empire) are
expanding or building factories in Hanoi, where they churn out products
for Wal-Mart and other American retailers. Foreign direct investment in
Vietnam increased 136 percent between 2006 and 2007, while it increased
just 14 percent in China.

The reason for the move south is straightforward: Vietnamese factory
workers make about a quarter of what their Chinese counterparts earn.

But why Vietnam and not, say, Thailand, where labor is similarly cheap?

Vietnam’s edge, it seems, is political. “Communism means more
stability,”

Why Were We in Vietnam? By Harold Meyerson

Check out the full article on their website, and while you read it keep in mind that Anarchists like Bakunin predicted from the very start that in practice Marxism could only create tyranny and then think about all the dictators our government has sponsored around the world.  Capitalism and Communism aren’t ideological opposites, they’re two sides of the same coin – and they go together just fine.

Posted: July 15th, 2008 under economics, politrix, Uncategorized.
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