Sabai Dee from Laos PDR

[Kaysone]

Hi everybody, just to introduce myself. I'm Kaysone, from Lao PDR. I am happy to be a new member of this forum, and I hope to learn many new and interesting things from my comrades here at revleft. I also hope that I can add to the discussions in a positive way with my limited knowledge. I look forward to a great experience!

[Q]

Welcome :)

If you have political questions, you can ask them in the Learning forum. That's why it's there after all!

If you have questions about your account, don't hesitate to send me a PM or ask here.

How's life in one of the five remaining 'actually existing' 'socialist' countries? It is something of a blind spot for me as I don't read a whole lot about it. What are your own political ideas, if anything in particular?

[Psycho P and the Freight Train]

Welcome. I too would like to know more about Laos. I know the least about that country than any other self-titled socialist country.

Anyway, good to have you here. :)

[BolshevikBabe]

Thirded as to the question about AES, you hear so many discussions of whether Cuba, China, the DPRK etc. are socialist and even Vietnam but never Laos.

[Kaysone]

Laos is, sad to say, socialist pretty much in name only. In practice, it is basically a capitalist economy, no govt. help even for the most needy. The Lao People's Revolutionary Party (our Communist party) is the ruling and only legal political party, but is only concerned about maintaining political control and stopping any opposition. I just returned from living and working in Vietnam for the last year, it is basically the same system as here in Laos, the party rules politics, what happens outside of that is not their concern, basically. I consider myself a "regular" communist (whatever that means), probably that ML/Stalinists would call me a revisionist, Trotskyists would call me a Stalinist, I just try to follow the basics of Marx, Engels, Lenin, etc. Nothing special, actually.