Dennis Mai

No, I'm 18 years old. However, I am Vietnamese and was born in Saigon after the Communists took over in 1976 (I'm living in the U.S. now). My father, whome I've never met, was taken away by the Viet-Cong after he and a group of counter-revolutionaries tried to stop the Communists after they had taken over. My mother and I moved here to the U.S. in 1976.

Ironically, I have grown to hate capitalism and have taken upon myself to find an alternative to capitalism, but the solution would have to be something other than the Communism of the past which had ultimately failed as an economic system. My parents are very conservative, while I consider myself an extreme radical. If you try to look, you will not find too many radical or even liberal Vietnamese. I sometimes feel like the world's my enemy.

I'll be happy to share any of my thoughts, history, or experiences if you're still interested.

I would like to talk to your mother about her experiences in Vietnam, if possible. What do you think?

I don't know how my mom would think about me telling someone about my father. I don't know why, but she told me a long time ago not to tell this even to my friends.

I have a pretty good idea of my mom's opinions on America and the antiwar movement. She thinks the U.S. is the greatest country in the world, where freedom roams and where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. I agree with her on that point. However, if it is natural for humans to live in inequality, then I hate human nature. I despise the world. On her perspective about the antiwar movement, she's sorry that so many people died in the war, but she also believes that freedom should be defended.

What has your mother taught you about him?

When I was in 6th grade, my family and I became U.S. citizens, and with that, I changed my name. My name used to be Tu Nguyen and now it's Dennis Mai. Back then, I didn't understand why my last name was different from my step-dad (I didn't know he was my step-dad). My parents finally explained to me that this wasn't my real dad and that my real dad was taken away in Viet-Nam.

This was the first and one of the only few times that my mom talked to me about my real dad. It's been almost seven years since she even mentioned him to me; I never bothered to ask. It's no big deal, cause it feels like he never existed. So if I remembered right, she said that he was quite rebellious and courageous. They've only known each other for about two years, and he only saw me once before he was gone. She told me that he was romantic and all that. I know this sounds realy skimpy, but that's all I know or even care to know.

What prompted him to resist the Communists once they came into power?

I can't answer that, cause I don't realy know. I do know that my mom's very anti-communist.

How did he go about resisting the communists? It must have been important to engage himself in such a dangerous endeavor.

My mom said that the group was lead by a veretran South-Vietnamese soldier. I never asked her what they actually did.

Before the takeover, I suspect that he collaborated with the Americans. Is this true?

I'm not sure. I'm afraid to ask her about him, because I remember that everytime she talked about him she was always teary and on the verge of crying.

What did the communists tell you about his disappearance?

Nothing. You say that most Vietnamese you know are "conservative." I suppose that means most were pro-American duting the war. Is this true?

Of course, most Vietnamese who immigrated here move here for the reason of getting away from Communism. Yes, I'm very certain that most South-Vietnamese were pro-American --at least the ones who have immigrated here are.

Your trust of capitalism has eroded during your time in America. Why do you suppose this happened?

I was only in Vietnam for the first three years of my life, so I don't remember anything about Vietnam. Perhaps it's not just capitalism that I am bothered with, but it's my parents' values that I hate. They can't seem to enjoy what they have; they're very status conscious. I hate status because all it means is bringing yourself up while putting others down. Capitalism thrives when there is competition, and in our society, everyone competes to gain status. Our place in society is determined by what we have materialistically.

You have a different vision of the future -- not exactly communism, not exactly capitalism, either. Could you tell me more about it?

Well, I'm not sure what it is. For one, communism is on a downfall. Everywhere you look, communist countries are reforming their ways towards opening the doors to capitalistic enterprises (China, Vietnam), and some had even abandoned communism all together (former U.S.S.R.). If we are going to have an alternative to capitalism, it would have to be something radically different. It would also have to work.

I had looked into the theories and writings of anarchism. I especialy like anarcho-communism and anarcho-syndicalism. I'm not too certain on how we can carry this out, but I'm always looking for possibilities.