Apocalyptic Thoughts

It opened with a prominent Sovietologist calling America the most expansionist power in history, and closed after a suave Russian diplomat had explained that his country’s troops were in Afghanistan to help preserve the principle of self-determination. In between, a Catholic priest urged the United States to stop threatening Moscow, a representative of the American Friends Service Committee proclaimed that unilateral disarmament would restore Soviet faith in our good intentions, and a Physician for Social Responsibility dispelled any doubts that nuclear weapons could do quite a number on Worcester, Massachusetts.

But it must be added that I was the most controversial speaker on the dais at this “nuclear-awareness” forum, sponsored by the Clark University Nuclear Awareness Committee and held at the Bancroft School in Worcester. By raising a number of unpleasant points about the Soviet Union, my comments disturbed the prevailing harmony; although the audience of high-school students treated me cordially, they clearly found my conduct oddly amusing— somewhat like that of a man who has belched in polite society. By and large, the Soviet speaker got a more friendly hearing, although when he said that dissidents in his country were little more than “hooligans,” a few giggles could be heard coming from the far corners of the auditorium.

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Clay Clemens

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It opened with a prominent Sovietologist calling America the most expansionist power in history, and closed after a suave Russian diplomat had explained that his country’s troops were in Afghanistan to help preserve the principle of self-determination. In between, a Catholic priest urged the United States to stop threatening Moscow, a representative of the American Friends Service Committee proclaimed that unilateral disarmament would restore Soviet faith in our good intentions, and a Physician for Social Responsibility dispelled any doubts that nuclear weapons could do quite a number on Worcester, Massachusetts.

But it must be added that I was the most controversial speaker on the dais at this “nuclear-awareness” forum, sponsored by the Clark University Nuclear Awareness Committee and held at the Bancroft School in Worcester. By raising a number of unpleasant points about the Soviet Union, my comments disturbed the prevailing harmony; although the audience of high-school students treated me cordially, they clearly found my conduct oddly amusing— somewhat like that of a man who has belched in polite society. By and large, the Soviet speaker got a more friendly hearing, although when he said that dissidents in his country were little more than “hooligans,” a few giggles could be heard coming from the far corners of the auditorium.