The Last Word
Mader, Eric
THE LAST WORD Eric Mader Bombs Away When I began work last July as a canvasser for the nuclear freeze campaign, I quickly learned some reasons why the arms race has managed to reach its present...
...It "Sorry, I'm a WASP...
...11 "I can't talk to you right now...
...Serving in a nuclear war is your problem...
...Yet, even with this wave of community support, there are always gross misconceptions to be cleared up...
...U "Don't worry...
...Here are some of my favorites: 11 "I don't think I want to be interested...
...How much do we need...
...H "Don't sign...
...Eric Mader canvasses for the Wisconsin Nuclear Weapons Freeze Campaign in Madison...
...Responses like these, of course, are not the rule...
...11 "Not after Pearl Harbor...
...H "My husband makes all these kinds of decisions for me...
...In the office of our local freeze campaign, we have hung a few poster boards to share "Memorable Canvass Graffiti"—responses to our canvass from people who "aren't interested" in our campaign, or who have other reasons for not signing our petitions or making contributions to our work...
...She said, "You mean they're still building those things...
...H "Do you have any Russian signatures...
...11 "I don't have money for that kind of stuff...
...H "I'm not for the Freeze 'cause I'm not a Democrat...
...THE LAST WORD Eric Mader Bombs Away When I began work last July as a canvasser for the nuclear freeze campaign, I quickly learned some reasons why the arms race has managed to reach its present absurd heights...
...Wish I had one...
...11 "We need nuclear weapons because no one will enlist in the Army any more...
...We're Reagan people...
...Responses that canvassers elicit in their door-to-door encounters with ordinary people—the people who let the politicians get away with the arms race—are the source of my new insight...
...11 "We're still making payments on the pool...
...H "I served in the Vietnam war...
...U "You're scaring our kids...
...apathy seems to crumble left and right...
...H "No, no...
...They are the ones who restore my energy...
...H "What would the President think if he knew what you were doing...
...H "Sorry...
...H "You should read the Reader's Digest if you believe that...
...Ronald Reagan's gonna be reelected President, and he'll take care of everything...
...I do meet supporters who dive for my clip-board without even giving me time to explain about membership, husband and wife fighting over who will get to sign up first...
...11 "I'm in favor of a Freeze...
...After a handful of such houses, I'm in top form...
...Please leave my house now...
...H "Nuclear weapons...
...H "I'm all for nuclear war...
...Standing behind her screen door, half hidden in the shadows, she appeared to be in her late forties...
...H "There's no one here right now, and I don't want to talk to you...
...God will destroy the Russians...
...I'm neutral...
...They're the KGB...
...H Canvasser: "The Soviets and we have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world sixty-seven times...
...Response: "Maybe three hundred times...
...But don't worry...
...And our Freeze Campaign continues to break its own records for signing up new members...
...this from a man shaking his copy of Guns & Ammo magazine at the canvasser...
...I remember well the response of one woman...
...She just couldn't believe it...
...How else will we know of the second coming of Jesus...
...I'm watching the President...
...He don't allow us to do these sorts of things...
...11 "I'm for the Freeze all right...
...H "The Bible says the yellow people will destroy the Earth...
Vol. 50 • February 1986 • No. 2
