Motorbikes, Neoliberalism and Reflections upon the Environment

It’s very hot in Ho Chi Minh City (ex Saigon). It is a suffocating heat, a common characteristic of the places near the Equator. In winter, the average temperature can reach 31 degrees celsius. The heat is sticky; everything is a mixture of sun, sweat and humidity. But Saigon isn’t only hot: also there are motorbikes in it, a awful lot of motorbikes. From the very moment you enter the city, guidebooks and information leaflets will let you know that you have reached “the mortorcycle city” (as time goes by, the visitor will understand that this assertion is literally 100% true). With a population of seven millions inhabitants, the city has around 4 million motorbikes.

For the newcomer, it would be interesting to notice that not only there as many bikes as ants in an ant’s nest. Add to the motorbikes the fact that there are no traffic lights, and no traffic regulation. Just by the end of 2007 a law was passed that makes it mandatory for motorbikers to use helmet and not to carry more than two adults and one child per vehicle.

It is also important for the tourist to learn how to navigate this sea of traffic. There is some kind of order, for sure, within this chaos, an order that follows the next principle (the rule of thumb for the survival of the traveller): the biggest and strongest go always first (or if you prefer, the law of the jungle). The size of the vehicle rules the streets. Therefore, first comes the bus or the truck, then cars, then bikes, and finally the pedestrian. So, crossing the street becomes quite a challenge (for those who are keen on adrenalin). If it is possible, it would be better to walk the city accompanied by someone from the area the first time. In fact, it is enough if you walk by his side and follow his steps. These would be short steps, but anyway you will be going foward. You have to trust that the cars and motorbikes will dodge you and whiz centimeters away from you, because this is what usually happens. You always have to turn your back on the situation, if it’s worth doing so. Then, the pedestrian will find himself finally crossing the street.

The previously-described system works in the same way in many cities around the southeast of Asia. But in Saigon, because of its size, it becomes a motorized monster that turns the streets into a place to be afraid of. Also, because of the lack of traffic of lights, drivers go for the horn. Due to the fact that everybody wants to go first at the same time, horns honking all day long have become the soundtrack of the city. Traffic jams are incredible. To move around the city can take hours.

In the last years, countries such as Vietnam have embraced the international market system. Though it is still a communist country, little by little capitalism is starting to pierce it, as a regime as well as an ideology, at all levels: social, political and economic. Motorbikes are an example of this. They are cheap (compared to cars) in relation to the current purchasing power of Vietnamese people. It is clear that these motorbikes are small and not high-quality. To get a motorbike in a city of seven million inhabitants, where everything is faster and faster everyday, and where there isn’t adequate infrastructure, has become a neccesity. Before, when they were only a few, as in Cambodia nowadays, they were no subject for discussion.

But what happens when a few motorbikes turn into thousands, into millions? The system used to work in the past. It had a logic behind it. If there are few motorbikes, they can go first and that’s it. It is true there are no traffic regulation, and no adequate infrastructure, but then they are not that neccesary. However, now that there are 4 million motorbikers and everyone wants to go first, the system has become chaotic, mad. It is impossible to drive around, and accidents are increasing everyday. The streets are covered by smog, and people are starting to use masks when driving and walking. Everybody pushing, everybody like little ants, everybody wants to go first. Thousand of horns, honking at the same time, all the time. This is the law of the jungle, of free and pure competition (with no restriction at all). This is the law of the strongest.

But motorbikes also symbolize something else, and they lead us to the core of one of the top subjects and problems of the modern world: the relation between human beings and the environment.The natural resources of our planet won’t last forever. Thus, the damage we are causing is alarming, whether we want it or not. And the model that dominates (call it market model, neoliberal model, or what you will) is simply not sustainable. It is a model that works just like the motorbikes in Vietnam, and that postulates that people have no relation with their environment at all. It also reveals the lack of thought regarding the consequences of individual actions. It’s no use considering this a spillover. This is not a market failure, but a consequence of an unregulated market, and of an excessive individualism.

I noticed the motorbikes in Vietnam because the case is similar to what is happening in the environmental realm. If we want to go first and we spend all the resources at the same time (in this particular case, the space itself, the street), we will end up living amidst a cloud of smoke and using all the space. The motorbiker thinks only of himself when buying a new motorbike, because he wants and needs to go first just like everybody else does. So every one of us is trying to ride the bike at the same time, without thinking about the consequences. It happened in the past, and is happening nowadays, regarding the environment. I don’t know if I would like to see our fascinating Planet Earth turned into big Saigon: a hot, noisy and smoky place, where the strongest and biggest go first, while the little people walk little steps trying not get run over by any vehicle, trying to reach the other sidewalk alive.

Colombina Schaeffer

Sociologist

Translated by Pablo Saavedra

Advertisement