This is the second of three posts on Vietnam in support of the argument that the same unhealthy masculine, us vs. them worldview and Shadow traits that inform the subjugations of women, Indigenous Peoples, and Africans/African-Americans in U. S. history were also catalysts for the Vietnam War.
Recommendations: If you’ve not read Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie, which won the National Book Award in 1988 and the Pulitzer Prize in 1989, give it a try. Lots of used copies are available — including the hardcover edition with photos from the author’s time in Vietnam.
Something to Consider: Reflect on your earliest learnings about the war in Vietnam (whether you fought in the war, avoided it, watched reports on television as it was happening, read about it in history books, etc.) in the context of the similarities and differences in how the U. S. leaders viewed the Vietnamese people and how, historically, they viewed women, Indigenous Peoples, and Africans.
This newsletter is also available in written format.
You can review the intention, context, background, and general trajectory of this newsletter on the About page. Here’s the short version: we’re taking a multidisciplinary (history, developmental psychology, culture, gender, race, spirituality, etc.) look at America’s collective Shadow (Jungian sense) and competing narratives as they manifest historically and currently, and offering some prospects for healing narratives and Shadow integration.
Dominoes, Defoliation, Death, & Democracy, Part 2