Right Field essays

Right Field essays Many Americans today have totally differing views on the moral aspects of their societies. Politics has taken an aggressive role in determining what people see as right, what others see wrong, and what some people could care less about. Either way each individual has his or her own ideology. An ideology is a person's belief on the values of the government in which they are under. Four basic ideologies are liberalism, socialism, libertarianism, and the most ethical idea of them allconservatism. Conservatism is the belief that government should have limited power and that citizens should have rights to private property and free enterprise. (Burns et al 246) Conservatism also encourages ideas such as pro-life and discourage ideas such as gun control, pornography, and homosexuality. Overall, conservatism is the most constructive and moral system of belief in America today. The other three ideologies, however, tend to lack the moral and ethical values which conservatism sustains. Liberalism views the government as the "control center" of America, leaving citizens with minimal power. Liberalism also, unlike conservatism, condones pro-choice, gun control, special rights for homosexual individuals, as well as a various array of other morally compromising ideas. In socialism, the government is believed to be the only power. Socialists want the government to totally support the citizens, which gives the citizens no choice of their own. This ideology is most commonly connected to the viewpoint that Karl Marx strongly believed in. Libertarianism, on the other hand, seeks extremely limited governmental power, thus proposing a hint of anarchism. Although each of these three other ideologies has some traits in common with conservatism, they all lack the ethics which conservatism possesses. Liberalism and conservatism are considered to be rivals because each ideology tends to deal with issues on opposing sides of t ...

Viet Minh Definition

Viet Minh Definition The Viet Minh was a Communist guerrilla force founded in 1941 to fight against the joint Japanese and Vichy French occupation of Vietnam during World War II. Its full name was Viá »â€¡t Nam à Ã¡ »â„¢c Lá º ­p à Ã¡ »â€œng Minh Há »â„¢i, which literally translates as the League for Viet Nams Independence. Who Were the Viet Minh? The Viet Minh was an effective opposition to Japans rule in Vietnam, although they were never able to dislodge the Japanese. As a result, the Viet Minh received aid and support from a variety of other powers, including the Soviet Union, Nationalist China (the KMT), and the United States. When Japan surrendered at the end of the war in 1945, Viet Minh leader Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnams independence. Unfortunately for the Viet Minh, however, the Nationalist Chinese actually accepted Japans surrender in northern Vietnam, while the British took the surrender in southern Vietnam. The Vietnamese themselves did not control any of their own territories. When the newly-free French demanded that its allies in China and the U.K. hand back control of French Indochina, they agreed to do so. Anti-Colonial War As a result, the Viet Minh had to launch another anti-colonial war, this time against France, the traditional imperial power in Indochina. Between 1946 and 1954, the Viet Minh used guerrilla tactics to wear down French troops in Vietnam. Finally, in May of 1954, the Viet Minh scored a decisive victory at Dien Bien Phu, and France agreed to withdraw from the region. Viet Minh Leader Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh, the Viet Minh leader, was very popular and would have become the president of all of Vietnam in free and fair elections. However, in negotiations at the Geneva Conference in the summer of 1954, the Americans and other powers decided that Vietnam should be temporarily divided between north and south; the Viet Minh leader would be empowered only in the north. As an organization, the Viet Minh were beset by internal purges, plummeting popularity due to a coercive land reform program, and a lack of organization. As the 1950s progressed, the Viet Minh party disintegrated. When the next war against the Americans, variously called the Vietnam War, the American War, or the Second Indochina War, broke out into open fighting in 1960, a new guerrilla force from southern Vietnam dominated the Communist coalition. This time, it would be the National Liberation Front, nicknamed the Viet Cong or Vietnamese Commies by anti-communist Vietnamese in the south. Pronunciation: vee-yet meehn Also Known As: Viet-Nam Doc-Lap Dong-Minh Alternate Spellings: Vietminh Examples After the Viet Minh expelled the French from Vietnam, many officers at all levels in the organization turned against one another, sparking purges that greatly weakened the party at a crucial time.