Billionaires - the coverage is about legitimacy and social license to operate. Creating +ve perceptions of the wealthy (derived from [insert various legitimate and illegitimate sources e.g. extraction, extortion, corruption, drugs, economic rent etc]) is called 'proactive PR'. It's strategic public knowledge management, aimed at avoiding the inconvenience of dealing with peasants lining up with pitchforks etc. Those impressions are in turn created by well-paid experts who focus on the challenge directly in front of them vs the wider societal challenge created by wealth inequality. Stiglitz has a lot to say about the latter, and it's nothing good. Unlike your beautiful animal pics, which I cannot praise enough.
I couldn't agree more that "this is a bizarre goal to be set by a national government, and more billionaires don’t necessarily equate to a healthier economy." However, in my experience as a university lecturer and as someone with local Vietnamese friends, the phenomenon of frequent press articles reporting in reverential terms on billionaires (and other rich celebrities of all sorts), and the government’s recent aspirational decree, are both a clear reflection of commonly held Vietnamese attitudes about the desirability of being rich.
I find that, increasingly, money and wealth are fetishized and regarded as being not only desirable, but as being an essential ingredient for true happiness, high social status, and self-worth. Virtually all of my students say that they either want to get a good job with a high salary, or become rich, successful entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs.
I think the prevalence of these attitudes is emblematic of significant social, cultural, and economic globalization. As you may know, many (most?) Vietnamese idolize and support Donald Trump and support him primarily because he is very rich, tall, famous, and expresses a strong anti-Chinese sentiment. Their support of Trump has literally nothing to do with his general policy, politics, or with the Republican platform. It’s mainly based on his wealth.
Thanks for the comment, Steve. I certainly noticed this with Trump during his presidency - I know it struck many Americans as odd, but indeed his 'support' here is largely based on his supposed wealth, while his general behavior doesn't really translate here as a problem. Ultimately, I suppose this attitude towards wealth isn't surprising for a country at this development stage, though it doesn't mean I find some of these articles any less strange.
As a Vietnamese student studying in the U.S for 8 years, my observation of there isn’t that much of a difference in obsession of billionaires in Vietnamese and U.S. In particular, the people with families/parents who owns their own business/entrepreneurship appreciates the capitalistic aspect of billionaires (Hence idolization of Trump, Gates,..etc). However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who doesn’t like them. This is primarily due to writers for these publications, most probably live in cities , and the rat race in Vietnam is still in the early-mid stages, where most are still dreaming about a plausible “American Dream” of becoming a millionaire.
From my conversation with peers and people my age, the exhaustion from rat race is starting to show because 22-26 age people I’ve talked to have expressed how their educational achievements (bachelor degree) sometimes doesn’t help them earn a living wage. Most have side hustles, whether it be selling tickets, performing arts, the obsession with billionaires is somewhat resonant with these individuals dream.
From my very small and limited slice of Vietnam, the fixation with billionaires does not surprise me when it seems like the only thing my tween students want for their future is to be rich. In any lesson I've taught about goals or careers, discussion from them is overwhelmingly about wealth. Success is only defined by money. I get that's understandable somewhat for their age, but it's still a little :-/
Yea, it's definitely understandable to a degree, and I'm not saying that being rich is inherently bad - but there's basically no discussion of whether it is good or bad, or what social responsibilities should perhaps go along with being wealthy.
Billionaires - the coverage is about legitimacy and social license to operate. Creating +ve perceptions of the wealthy (derived from [insert various legitimate and illegitimate sources e.g. extraction, extortion, corruption, drugs, economic rent etc]) is called 'proactive PR'. It's strategic public knowledge management, aimed at avoiding the inconvenience of dealing with peasants lining up with pitchforks etc. Those impressions are in turn created by well-paid experts who focus on the challenge directly in front of them vs the wider societal challenge created by wealth inequality. Stiglitz has a lot to say about the latter, and it's nothing good. Unlike your beautiful animal pics, which I cannot praise enough.
Fascinating comment, Vicki! And very glad you enjoy the animal pics.
This article is particularly distinguished because the punch line is delivered by a lovely dog rather than a cat
I couldn't agree more that "this is a bizarre goal to be set by a national government, and more billionaires don’t necessarily equate to a healthier economy." However, in my experience as a university lecturer and as someone with local Vietnamese friends, the phenomenon of frequent press articles reporting in reverential terms on billionaires (and other rich celebrities of all sorts), and the government’s recent aspirational decree, are both a clear reflection of commonly held Vietnamese attitudes about the desirability of being rich.
I find that, increasingly, money and wealth are fetishized and regarded as being not only desirable, but as being an essential ingredient for true happiness, high social status, and self-worth. Virtually all of my students say that they either want to get a good job with a high salary, or become rich, successful entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs.
I think the prevalence of these attitudes is emblematic of significant social, cultural, and economic globalization. As you may know, many (most?) Vietnamese idolize and support Donald Trump and support him primarily because he is very rich, tall, famous, and expresses a strong anti-Chinese sentiment. Their support of Trump has literally nothing to do with his general policy, politics, or with the Republican platform. It’s mainly based on his wealth.
Thanks for the comment, Steve. I certainly noticed this with Trump during his presidency - I know it struck many Americans as odd, but indeed his 'support' here is largely based on his supposed wealth, while his general behavior doesn't really translate here as a problem. Ultimately, I suppose this attitude towards wealth isn't surprising for a country at this development stage, though it doesn't mean I find some of these articles any less strange.
As a Vietnamese student studying in the U.S for 8 years, my observation of there isn’t that much of a difference in obsession of billionaires in Vietnamese and U.S. In particular, the people with families/parents who owns their own business/entrepreneurship appreciates the capitalistic aspect of billionaires (Hence idolization of Trump, Gates,..etc). However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who doesn’t like them. This is primarily due to writers for these publications, most probably live in cities , and the rat race in Vietnam is still in the early-mid stages, where most are still dreaming about a plausible “American Dream” of becoming a millionaire.
From my conversation with peers and people my age, the exhaustion from rat race is starting to show because 22-26 age people I’ve talked to have expressed how their educational achievements (bachelor degree) sometimes doesn’t help them earn a living wage. Most have side hustles, whether it be selling tickets, performing arts, the obsession with billionaires is somewhat resonant with these individuals dream.
From my very small and limited slice of Vietnam, the fixation with billionaires does not surprise me when it seems like the only thing my tween students want for their future is to be rich. In any lesson I've taught about goals or careers, discussion from them is overwhelmingly about wealth. Success is only defined by money. I get that's understandable somewhat for their age, but it's still a little :-/
Yea, it's definitely understandable to a degree, and I'm not saying that being rich is inherently bad - but there's basically no discussion of whether it is good or bad, or what social responsibilities should perhaps go along with being wealthy.
werd