I stumbled upon an event that commemorates the 30th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War at the Kresge auditorium after leaving the Z-center yesterday morning. Even before coming to MIT, I have heard about Professor Noam Chomsky as an outspoken and controversial anti-war figure. Being curious about what he has to say, I went into the auditorium. Professor Chomsky talked about the history of atrocities committed by American soldiers and the failed American foreign policy at that time. With Vietnam War as a component of the lexicon of the Iraq War, the talk slowly shifted to the Iraq War. Prof. Chomsky thinks that the U.S. presence in Iraq, just like the Vietnam War, would not be reduced any time soon. In fact, the U.S. military presence would probably be extended because of Iraq's oil resources and its close proximity to Syria and Iran. Overall, I don't find his talk all that controversial as I had previously thought but there are some parts which I think are certainly partial to some extent.

After the talk, I roamed around the lobby of Kresge auditorium. Maggie, one of the bystander at the lobby, approached me and started preaching to me about the Socialists movement. She then changed the subject and charged the U.S. of imperialism because the Bush administration demanded that the Chinese stop pegging the Yuan on the Dollar. I am not a big fan of the Bush administration, but I decided to play the antagonist just to debate with her. I argued that the U.S. trade deficit is likely to be reduced and the price level improved if the Chinese were to allow the Chinese Yuan to float on the open market instead of being pegged on the Dollar. Furthermore, the Chinese economic is mature enough that floating its currency would not destabilize the country's economy. She then argued that capitalism is inherently evil and that it should be eradicated. That really struck a nerve with me and I proceeded to argue that no ideology is perfect; all forms of governance and market model have its own flaws and advantages. We need to understand that the stability of a country or society lies in the existence of the middle class. To achieve that, I still believe that uncorrupted democracy along with fair and accountable capitalism still offer the best chance of building a stable and viable society. Whether we have achieved this goal, that's another question.

5/1/2005 2:15:04 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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