Can’t Forget What You Didn’t Know- Fred Branfman’s
“Voices From The Plain Of Jars” And The Question Of Responsibility
By Romi Mahajan
04 July, 2015
Countercurrents.org
Fred Branfman
I admit I know of Fred Branfman only because of the wonderful piece he wrote about Noam Chomsky in 2012. I read the piece, enjoyed it thoroughly, and then read again about Branfman upon his passage in 2014. I know that he was in fact a well-known activist and author and certainly those progressives who were adults in the Vietnam-war era knew him well. But, despite my interest in the politics of peace and in the study of US Foreign Policy, I was not familiar with his work. Clearly, this is a statement about me and not about Branfman, an incredible person.
So about two weeks ago, I once again saw his name on my screen and I decided that, enough being enough, I needed to read his work on the bombing of Laos – “Voices from the Plain of Jars.” Finding an edition with a recent forward, I read the book with great interest and great pain. Though I knew about the “secret” bombing of Laos, I knew very little and then to read Branfman’s analysis and the testimony of Laotians from the Plain was eye-opening to be sure. I felt a deep revulsion for War and for slaughter, a deep revulsion for the arrogance of power and the casual use of military might that so defined the US in the Vietnam era (and after.) I also felt a sort of self-revulsion for not having taken the responsible step to have learned more about this earlier.
The revulsion then lead to a clear panic. Ultimately, I cannot learn deeply about everything that a responsible person should know, but I can certainly do a lot more than I am. Only then could I claim the mantle of “responsible citizen.”
Many of us have gotten to this point but then the real demons are let loose. The demons that appear are in some ways the usual suspects; first, there is the “but I’m doing what I can” demon- an Orwellian one that clearly synonymizes “what is easy” with “what I can.” Second, there is the “but I’m no Chomsky” demon – the one that lets us off the hook because we are not all polymathic geniuses. Third, is the “Don’t beat yourself up” demon- the one invented by the happiness industry, that allows each of us to “feel good.”
Responsible citizens need to avoid succumbing to these demons and to in fact continue to beat themselves up if for no other reason than to impel action and to avoid forgetting.
There is much written about the perils of “forgetting.” Reading Branfman’s book certainly reminded me of the destruction of Indo-China and the testimonies of real people in the book will never be forgotten as long as we read them over and over again and think about the fact that those people, just like us, went through the same ranges of emotion that each of us do.
For many, the refuge from these painful thoughts is the ignorance of facts. Ignorance means no remembering and no forgetting. It’s a blank state. But ignorance is irresponsible.
No doubt, I am irresponsible about so many things but I’m trying to catch up. And I’ll continue to try.
“Voices from the Plain of Jars” helped me cure myself of ignorance on one slaughter. It’s a step on the path to a responsible life.
Romi Mahajan is the founder of KKM Group a marketing firm, an author, an investor, and an activist. His career is a storied one, including spending 9 years at Microsoft and being the first CMO of Ascentium, an award-winning digital agency. Romi has also authored two books on marketing- the latest one can be found here . A prolific writer and speaker, Mahajan lives in Bellevue, WA, with his wife and two kids. Mahajan graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, at the age of 19. He can be reached at [email protected]
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