AWe Interview: Dr. Helen Caldicott
by Stephanie Hiller
I talked with Dr. Helen Caldicott by phone in August, during her recent visit to the United States. She had only ten minutes.
When you were in Washington, where you able to see President Clinton?
I've spoken with the y2k committe and four people from the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) and it's no good, their spin on it is, don't create panic, they're not taking it too seriously. Koskinen doesn't really understand it, he's a lawyer. When I said I wanted to see Mr. Clinton, they said, Good luck.
That's so discouraging! How do you keep going?
Things are so very grim I thought of stopping, but I just couldn't live with myself if I did. I couldn't read a newspaper.
It's pretty much the way Margaret Mead put it, a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. You know. I might as well get in the coffin if I stop.
What I don't understand is people who don't do anything, just sit around worrying about themselves and looking at their navels. The only way evil flourishes is for good people to do nothing. It's just evil not to do anything in the face of evil! [Here her tone shifted from intense rapidfire to real sadness.] Cause we're killing the earth. Rapidly.
[Then she fired back up again.]This is the richest country on earth. They've no right to sit back on their bottoms and not do anything.
What about the comment that y2k is the most hyped event of the century?
"Hyped?" That's pure and utter ignorance! It's hard to find the information because the newspapers don't cover it but if you read the Net, it's all there. The basic data, even from very conservative groups. shows that we're going to have a major recession. But I think a lot of people are going to die. If you try to imagine people getting through the winter in the midwest without any heat.
Maybe it's a question of belief.... [I was going to suggest that people have trouble believing y2k is a real problem.]
I don't believe in anything [she snapped], except life!
NRC is planning for two major accidents at nuclear power plants. After my seminar in Washington, a guy from NRC was heard saying to another person out in the corridor, We're planning for two emergencies.
Planning for them! Only two?
Yes, and you have to realize that only 1/4 of the reactors in the world are here! If one of those reactors in Europe melts down, you'll still get the fall out. We won't get it in Australia, but you'll get it here.
What about women? What should our role be?
Woman should be in the forefront. We've got the progesterone and the estrogen, we're the nurturing ones, we should be in the forefront. On the whole we're smarter than men, we're very organized, we can do many things at once. We should be here nurturing and caring for all life. We're the curators of life.
What was the response to your talk in Hopland?
People often have to go off and think about it. You never know what they may come up with after that.
We've got to get depressed in order to get going. In fact once you get going, it's exciting. Because it's very easy to have an impact. There's a democratic vacuum which makes it very easy to accomplish something. I helped to stop the nuclear arms race and I'm an Australian! And a woman!
It's in my book [A Desperate Passion, her autobiography], so I'm not going to say more about that.
At Real Goods you said people should storm congressional offices --
They've got every right to storm the offices. Those offices belong to them!
Americans are so spoiled and so lazy! Every time I come here it takes my breath away, the affluence here. And people think they deserve it while two thirds of the world's children are starving. And the television keeps telling them they deserve even more affluence!
People talk about a new paradigm emerging --
I hate that word paradigm! You need a revolution, a bloodless, nonviolent revolution. You need to take back your country!
You need some indignation. Where's your passion? It's not wrong to be angry. Americans seem to have this problem about anger! Anger is good, you have a right to be angry. The Germans weren't angry so they were able to kill 6 million people.
Jesus was angry. . .
Every gun should be removed. Shooting people from cars, that's obscene.
Does your family support you?
My kids support what I do. They're starting to get involved. They're annoyed because I was away a lot when they were children. I don't have a husband, he left me. Read my book!
You have to cogitate and sit on your feelings and recognize them, and out of your confusion and worry, you figure out what to do. I don't like telling people what they should do. Use your democracy! Don't be scared, don't wait for approval. Do what you think! Do what you have to do to be true to your own soul.