Hanoi, Vietnam: Superficial Judgments

My new favorite place

I arrived in Vietnam a few weeks ago, and I immediately felt that I’d come here too late in life. Europe seems like an opulent retirement community by comparison. It’s hardly worth writing about. Anyone who disagrees with the idea that the Asian Century is upon us and that Europe is dead hasn’t spent much time in these places recently, or has a political investment in promoting the opposite idea. Every European country I’ve been to this year is being clobbered by inflation and/or is experiencing a cost of living crisis that is driving locals out and abroad. Demographic decline is visible. On that point, I recently wrote about the disappearing Balkans for The Baffler. I’m thrilled that the publication asked me to write the piece, because I’ve generally found it difficult to approach this topic with American leftists, as it’s usually coded right wing.