WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.570 align:middle line:90% 00:00:00.570 --> 00:00:03.420 align:middle line:90% And you. 00:00:03.420 --> 00:00:06.450 align:middle line:90% Oh, I do think we can start. 00:00:06.450 --> 00:00:09.310 align:middle line:84% As you probably know, about six or eight months ago, 00:00:09.310 --> 00:00:16.200 align:middle line:84% a group of poets began giving readings, readings 00:00:16.200 --> 00:00:19.650 align:middle line:84% by the press from what they were reading, 00:00:19.650 --> 00:00:23.220 align:middle line:84% poetry readings against the Vietnam War. 00:00:23.220 --> 00:00:27.960 align:middle line:84% And this is only natural, too, since that whole area 00:00:27.960 --> 00:00:30.660 align:middle line:90% surrounds us like a cloud. 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:33.750 align:middle line:84% Pretend the cloud is not there would 00:00:33.750 --> 00:00:36.600 align:middle line:84% be as stupid as living in nature and pretending 00:00:36.600 --> 00:00:40.060 align:middle line:90% there were no trees there. 00:00:40.060 --> 00:00:47.520 align:middle line:84% So the strange thing is that the poets themselves were aware 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:49.320 align:middle line:84% that readings against the war are not 00:00:49.320 --> 00:00:51.660 align:middle line:84% going to change the United States policy. 00:00:51.660 --> 00:00:57.180 align:middle line:84% I think Johnson has decided to go for a military victory 00:00:57.180 --> 00:00:59.830 align:middle line:90% at any cost. 00:00:59.830 --> 00:01:06.420 align:middle line:84% But the problem has something to do with the self-respect 00:01:06.420 --> 00:01:12.150 align:middle line:84% not only of the force but of the people in the colleges. 00:01:12.150 --> 00:01:17.490 align:middle line:84% And there's something bad about having to listen on the radio 00:01:17.490 --> 00:01:20.850 align:middle line:84% all the time to lies about the war. 00:01:20.850 --> 00:01:23.760 align:middle line:84% We know countries who have had to do that. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:27.960 align:middle line:84% France is one at the time of the Algerian war. 00:01:27.960 --> 00:01:30.300 align:middle line:84% All the news media of France said, we 00:01:30.300 --> 00:01:34.540 align:middle line:90% had a statement from Algeria. 00:01:34.540 --> 00:01:36.280 align:middle line:90% They really want us there. 00:01:36.280 --> 00:01:36.780 align:middle line:90% They do. 00:01:36.780 --> 00:01:38.610 align:middle line:90% They're out producing there. 00:01:38.610 --> 00:01:39.990 align:middle line:90% They produce in Algerian. 00:01:39.990 --> 00:01:41.970 align:middle line:84% And say, do you want us to be in Algeria? 00:01:41.970 --> 00:01:43.740 align:middle line:90% Yes, yes, we do. 00:01:43.740 --> 00:01:45.600 align:middle line:90% Please help us. 00:01:45.600 --> 00:01:48.240 align:middle line:90% But of course, it was all lies. 00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:51.480 align:middle line:84% And when the French boys were there fighting, 00:01:51.480 --> 00:01:53.087 align:middle line:90% they knew it were a lie. 00:01:53.087 --> 00:01:55.170 align:middle line:84% They knew that they were fighting against the Holy 00:01:55.170 --> 00:01:58.080 align:middle line:84% Algerian nation, which was sick of the Westerners 00:01:58.080 --> 00:02:00.510 align:middle line:90% and wanted them out of there. 00:02:00.510 --> 00:02:06.810 align:middle line:84% So I was in Paris last year, and something very sad 00:02:06.810 --> 00:02:09.509 align:middle line:90% had happened to the French men. 00:02:09.509 --> 00:02:12.630 align:middle line:84% There's this feeling of nothingness there, 00:02:12.630 --> 00:02:14.670 align:middle line:84% this feeling of having fought and killed 00:02:14.670 --> 00:02:19.210 align:middle line:84% men and tortured men for nothing, absolutely nothing. 00:02:19.210 --> 00:02:20.340 align:middle line:90% Because what happened? 00:02:20.340 --> 00:02:23.760 align:middle line:90% Of course, they need to get out. 00:02:23.760 --> 00:02:25.740 align:middle line:84% And it only took one strong man, de Gaulle, 00:02:25.740 --> 00:02:27.790 align:middle line:84% who came along and say, look, it's all a mistake, 00:02:27.790 --> 00:02:31.800 align:middle line:84% this is all stupid, and we're pulling out of Algeria. 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:34.050 align:middle line:84% And you mustn't be angry at de Gaulle 00:02:34.050 --> 00:02:36.510 align:middle line:84% when he keeps bugging the United States 00:02:36.510 --> 00:02:37.920 align:middle line:84% and saying France is the greatest 00:02:37.920 --> 00:02:39.388 align:middle line:90% power in the world, et cetera. 00:02:39.388 --> 00:02:41.680 align:middle line:84% He knows France is not the greatest power in the world. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.250 align:middle line:84% He knows that France is nothing grandeur. 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:47.070 align:middle line:84% All he's trying to do is to bring back a little self 00:02:47.070 --> 00:02:49.600 align:middle line:90% respect to the French man. 00:02:49.600 --> 00:02:52.910 align:middle line:84% He knows perfectly well what he's doing, for his country, 00:02:52.910 --> 00:02:55.720 align:middle line:84% he's a noble and thoughtful statesman who 00:02:55.720 --> 00:02:57.610 align:middle line:90% knows that a lot has been lost. 00:02:57.610 --> 00:02:59.890 align:middle line:84% And it's possible to retrieve some 00:02:59.890 --> 00:03:02.860 align:middle line:84% by talking about France's past glory 00:03:02.860 --> 00:03:05.400 align:middle line:90% and possible future glory. 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:12.190 align:middle line:84% But it's the same kind of thing in Vietnam. 00:03:12.190 --> 00:03:14.590 align:middle line:84% We're fighting in Vietnam for various prosaic reasons. 00:03:14.590 --> 00:03:17.920 align:middle line:90% 00:03:17.920 --> 00:03:21.460 align:middle line:84% Eisenhower at a governor's conference in 1953 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:25.322 align:middle line:84% was asked about the French fighting in Indochina 00:03:25.322 --> 00:03:27.280 align:middle line:84% by the governors, what do you think about this? 00:03:27.280 --> 00:03:30.505 align:middle line:84% And Eisenhower, with his usual frankness, 00:03:30.505 --> 00:03:32.920 align:middle line:84% and the way the truth just flopped out of his mouth 00:03:32.920 --> 00:03:37.300 align:middle line:84% before he could stop it, he said, well, 00:03:37.300 --> 00:03:41.320 align:middle line:84% if we lose in Indochina it's a bad thing, 00:03:41.320 --> 00:03:43.540 align:middle line:84% because a third of the world's tungsten and tin 00:03:43.540 --> 00:03:48.040 align:middle line:84% is in South Vietnam, and we've got to save that for the West. 00:03:48.040 --> 00:03:52.630 align:middle line:84% Now, that's not [bullshit?] by our leader. 00:03:52.630 --> 00:03:56.900 align:middle line:84% And we're also there because, from Johnson's point of view, 00:03:56.900 --> 00:03:58.730 align:middle line:84% the white men have always had a right 00:03:58.730 --> 00:04:01.340 align:middle line:84% which we have to preserve of telling the yellow nations what 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:02.570 align:middle line:90% to do. 00:04:02.570 --> 00:04:04.610 align:middle line:84% He is fighting for rights, but that's 00:04:04.610 --> 00:04:06.450 align:middle line:90% the right to be fighting for. 00:04:06.450 --> 00:04:08.923 align:middle line:84% That's another right that's overseen. 00:04:08.923 --> 00:04:11.090 align:middle line:84% The yellow people are going to decide for themselves 00:04:11.090 --> 00:04:12.620 align:middle line:90% what they want to do. 00:04:12.620 --> 00:04:16.070 align:middle line:84% We're also there because we want to preserve some part of Asia 00:04:16.070 --> 00:04:18.980 align:middle line:84% as a field for investment of American capital 00:04:18.980 --> 00:04:20.240 align:middle line:90% when it's all over. 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:22.440 align:middle line:90% That's another [INAUDIBLE]. 00:04:22.440 --> 00:04:24.470 align:middle line:84% But there are also psychic reasons 00:04:24.470 --> 00:04:26.420 align:middle line:90% which we don't understand. 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:28.460 align:middle line:84% And this is what is scary about this war as 00:04:28.460 --> 00:04:29.840 align:middle line:90% compared to the last war. 00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:31.820 align:middle line:84% When we knew exactly what we were doing, 00:04:31.820 --> 00:04:34.430 align:middle line:84% and people would work overtime in the factories. 00:04:34.430 --> 00:04:38.395 align:middle line:84% They would gladly sacrifice themselves, 00:04:38.395 --> 00:04:39.770 align:middle line:84% because they knew perfectly well. 00:04:39.770 --> 00:04:42.430 align:middle line:84% There weren't any under, psychic undercurrents of doubt. 00:04:42.430 --> 00:04:45.800 align:middle line:84% But the whole war is shot through with these doubts. 00:04:45.800 --> 00:04:48.500 align:middle line:84% And the New York Times recently was the only newspaper 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:50.390 align:middle line:84% who printed the fact when they were 00:04:50.390 --> 00:04:52.922 align:middle line:84% talking about the shortage of pilots in Vietnam. 00:04:52.922 --> 00:04:54.380 align:middle line:84% The New York Times was the only one 00:04:54.380 --> 00:04:57.620 align:middle line:84% that published the fact that a contributoring factors of many 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:00.470 align:middle line:84% of the pilots that are brought there turn in their wings 00:05:00.470 --> 00:05:03.170 align:middle line:90% rather than fly in the war. 00:05:03.170 --> 00:05:08.210 align:middle line:84% Once they fly there, they're taught to run these $3 million 00:05:08.210 --> 00:05:08.865 align:middle line:90% machines. 00:05:08.865 --> 00:05:11.240 align:middle line:84% And they're said, now you're going to do something noble. 00:05:11.240 --> 00:05:12.950 align:middle line:84% You're going to do this, and you're going to do that. 00:05:12.950 --> 00:05:15.290 align:middle line:84% And what are they, sent over with a bunch of napalm 00:05:15.290 --> 00:05:18.050 align:middle line:84% to bomb a village of women and children. 00:05:18.050 --> 00:05:19.650 align:middle line:84% And they go home, they say, look, 00:05:19.650 --> 00:05:21.608 align:middle line:84% this isn't the way that I thought about it when 00:05:21.608 --> 00:05:24.790 align:middle line:84% I went into the military, and they turn in the wings 00:05:24.790 --> 00:05:28.900 align:middle line:84% and say, OK, forget it, I'll be a commercial pilot somewhere. 00:05:28.900 --> 00:05:31.660 align:middle line:84% So believe me, it isn't only the poets. 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:33.430 align:middle line:84% It isn't only [INAUDIBLE] that has doubts. 00:05:33.430 --> 00:05:34.960 align:middle line:90% Everyone has doubts. 00:05:34.960 --> 00:05:37.150 align:middle line:84% And the problem is that there's something invisible 00:05:37.150 --> 00:05:37.820 align:middle line:90% about the war. 00:05:37.820 --> 00:05:39.820 align:middle line:84% So here's a little poem touching on that, called 00:05:39.820 --> 00:05:41.950 align:middle line:90% "As the Asian War Begins." 00:05:41.950 --> 00:05:45.070 align:middle line:84% There are things that cannot be seen, 00:05:45.070 --> 00:05:49.900 align:middle line:84% or are seen only by a minister who no longer believes in God, 00:05:49.900 --> 00:05:54.370 align:middle line:84% living in his parish like a crow in its nest. 00:05:54.370 --> 00:05:59.620 align:middle line:84% There are flowers with murky centers, impenetrable ebony 00:05:59.620 --> 00:06:01.330 align:middle line:90% banners. 00:06:01.330 --> 00:06:04.180 align:middle line:84% There are Conestoga wagons, the contents 00:06:04.180 --> 00:06:06.670 align:middle line:84% hidden from us by canvas, murderers 00:06:06.670 --> 00:06:08.900 align:middle line:90% riding under the canvas. 00:06:08.900 --> 00:06:11.330 align:middle line:84% Give us this day a glimpse of what 00:06:11.330 --> 00:06:16.630 align:middle line:84% is hidden of our enemy, the soldiers, and the poor.