Left-Communist Group of Vietnam

  Islam is one of the largest religions in the world, boasting almost two billion faithful across the entire world. It’s no wonder, then, that it has also reached Vietnam, even if it’s a minority in the cultural tapestry. This essay hopes to give a short historical account of how Islam got to Vietnam, and the characteristics of modern Islam in the country. Background Among the regions that make up Vietnam, Islam’s presence was first found in the region of Champa, comprising the central and south parts of the country. The Cham, who occupied the region, are widely associated with Islam and vice versa, since they were the first to convert to Islam, doing so as early as the tenth and eleventh centuries. Although some records place conversions at the twelfth century. The religion only started to gain popularity around the seventeenth century, however, when the royalty of Champan kingdoms converted.[1] Crucial to this development were Muslim traders, especially those from the Malay peopl...

  Vietnam, being the equivalent of a social democracy, places prime importance on “workers rights” (officially anyway). That’s why the government allows the existence of party-approved trade unions who can only legally be represented by one party approved national organization. This organization, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor (V.G.C.L.), is not truly representative of the proletariat. It is more representative of the capitalist “Communist” Party and its running dogs.  First off, let’s address what it means that Vietnam has an organization of trade unions. These trade unions, of which there are several, negotiate with Vietnamese capitalists over working conditions and wages. Their main reason for existence is to deal with problems which are characteristic of capitalism. This is not a fabrication we have made up. They openly admit this in a video by the International Labor Organization (an arm of the United Nations). They say: “In Vietnam’s fast growing economy wage...

  Nowadays, it is not uncommon to hear someone compare Council Communists to Anarcho-Syndicalists despite the vast gap which exists between the two tendencies. Thus, we thought we should clear the air around the subject and explain the differences between Council Communists and Anarcho-Syndicalists. Unions The most obvious point of contention regards unions. Council Communists, such as ourselves, completely disregard unions as revolutionary organizations. Unions have only ever been, and can only ever be, pseudo-reformist bodies. They exist to get concessions from capitalists (i.e. higher wages, shorter working hours) in essentially the same fashion as social democrats. This was true even in their heyday. In the present day, though, they have been almost completely integrated into the capitalist state, and won’t ever vouch for real revolutionary action. The programme of the Communist Workers Party of Germany said it best: “ [I]t is necessary to resolutely reject the trade unions, an...