What do you think would have been different if the US had not invaded Vietnam?

[msc545]

[Anonymous]

The US didn't invade Vietnam. They were invited in by the south Vietnamese government to help them fend off an invasion from North Vietnam.

Russia and china threw a huge amount of resources to support north Vietnamese invasion of the south. So those resources would have maybe went elsewhere in support of the spread of international communism. Maybe to be used against Thailand, or africa or the middle east or south America. Maybe thrown behind South Korea which was actually attacked by North Korea during the Vietnam war period.

[msc545]

Document the "invitation" or it didn't happen.

[Opinion Owner]

Perhaps read up on the history of the Vietnam war or avoid talking about it.

[msc545]

Perhaps provide evidence for what you say or shut the fuck up.

[jazzy34]

Well, on a personal level, I wouldn't have this bone condition I was born with (my grandfather was exposed to Agent Orange while serving over there, which caused hereditary health problems). In general, it's anyone's guess. "What if" scenarios are tricky.

[dudeinohio]

My wife has several health issues related to her father being exposed to agent orange. Supposedly, it can affect a few generations forward.

[jazzy34]

I’m sorry to know that.

[dudeinohio]

Its ok. We handle her health issues. Just a part of who. she is.

[MisterWack]

- No War Pigs By Black Sabbath (it was primarily about Vietnam War)

- No Full Metal Jacket

- No Hippie Movement

- More US Govt Transparency (for the time being)

- No Mass Casualties

- Possibly No Cambodian Genocide ( American bombings in the region caused instability and the rise of the Genocidal Govt Regime to rise )

Vietnam War was and is bad.

[lightbulb27]

A lot. An idiot I know wouldn't have lost his father and so he wouldn't have been such a mischevious jerk.

Relative wouldn't have been so scared and a million plus vietnamese not killed plus all the americans.

Who really knows but doesn't' look like it achieved much in hindsight. China controls ther region via Russias communism.

[purplepoppy]

Potentially ww3. By losing the war America learnt of it's own limitations and people could see the horrors on TV. Without that there's a good chance some president would have decided to have a pop at Russia or China

[exitseven]

I think that the Vietnam War united a whole generation and became the cause that made people question the government.

[msc545]

@exitseven I think you are right.

[Sevenpointfive]

we probably wouldn't have gotten vietnamese food until long after! possibly never?

[msc545]

That would have been very bad...

[ProbablyClueless]

Communists still would have taken over. If the Khmer Rouge is any indication, there probably would have been worse bloodshed.

The thing about Communism is that it's very attractive to people who don't have much hope of their lives improving under the capitalist system. And it's really difficult to explain to people whose lives suck that their lives aren't going to suddenly suck any less if we reorganize our societal structure.

[Maybe_Maybe_not]

Their lives aren't going to suddenly suck any less if we reorganize our societal structure... That's a certainty, for the US people, yep. Because the distance between free market policies and communist policies is much too important to see a shift happening. However, there's a chance that an important part of US population looks sensitive to social market policies. Probably not an important part enough to roll over centuries of free market though. May take a long time, if that ever happen.

[Dargil]

For Vietnam not much. Thailand might have been invaded by the Viet Cong.

[Anonymous]

JFK wouldn't have been assassinated; thousands of young men wouldn't have died for the Military Industrial Complex and the counterculture of the 60's likely wouldn't have happened as it was partly a result of the Vietnam war.

[DrPepper12]

Johnson would have EASILY won in 68. I will die on this hill.

[TwoToTooTutu2]

There would probably still be a Soviet Union

[Panthero80]

Less people would have died.