Nixon's the One

Nixon's the One" is an edited version of a speech given by Vonnegut from the steps of the New York Public Library in Bryant Park, New York City on April 22, 1970 at a rally for the first Earth Day. It was published in the compilation Earth Day—The Beginning: A Guide to Survival, which was compiled and edited by the organization Environmental Action in 1970.

Summary

Speculating that Nixon is probably watching "a boxing match by satellite" while the rally is taking place, Vonnegut hopes the people can get his attention—since he controls the money and power—or the planet will soon die. He wishes Nixon were a biologist rather than a lawyer, then perhaps he'd be less concerned about being the first American president to lose a war and instead see that he may be the first "to lose an entire planet." He should help make the Earth a habitable environment, but won't, so the war will continue and "we go up and down Fifth Avenue picking up trash."

Additional Material

Several remarks from Vonnegut's speech not included in the Earth Day compilation were reported in an article by Anna Mayo for The Village Voice on April 30, 1970. He openned by noting that was unusual for "a total pessimist to be speaking at a spring celebration" with peaceful, "[m]ostly white" demonstrators. While in the current day, polluters are looked on as people "just doing their jobs", future generations will see them as "swine" about whom Nixon did nothing. However, those who try to do their part to save the planet will find "a loose, cheerful, sexy brass band" playing "When the Saints for Marching In" for them at the gates of heaven.

Background and Reception

First Earth Day, New York City, 1970

Mayo interviewed Vonnegut at the Algonquin Hotel the night before his speech and asked if he thought that "the environmental movement is a granfalloon or a universal karass?" He replied that everyone knows the answer, which is that it's "a big soppy pillow" and no one will actually do much of substance about protecting the environment. However, he was amused to have heard that someone at General Motors had "invented a big grinder to grind up all the the automobiles". He presumes people read his books "because they're interested in God" and also because he's "the funniest writer in America". In the end, however, all anyone can teach to another person is "how to endure". The next day, Mayo interviewed two people in the crowd at Vonnegut's speech. The first, an "elderly lady [who] paces this way and that" from Yugoslavia said people "don't listen to the right teachers". Another was a music professor from Iowa singing the 12th century canon "Summer Is Icumen In" in old English. Refusing to give his name to the press, he agreed to be called "Mr. Daffodil" after the flower he was holding, saying "[y]ou can baptize me Daffodil".

Ali Smith revisited Mayo's article in 2022 for The Village Voice, wondering why Vonnegut—in front of youthful activists, celebrities, "many visionary scientists and pandering politicians"—would have displayed such pessimism toward the idea that if corporations and people knew the consequences of their decisions, they would change their behavior. Granted, however, the present day shows that eventually this idea "was proved wrong". Given both Vonnegut's penchant for humor as well as speaking out against environmental destruction, surely he could have offered wiser words. Fortunately, Smith says she is able to interview some disembodied essence of Vonnegut, which declares himself "a space wanderer named Kurt who has become unstuck in time". His replies to Smith's questions involve excerpts from various Vonnegut works, such as Breakfast of Champions, the advertisement for Volkswagen, Vonnegut's final interview with David Brancaccio, and his speeches at Bennington College as well as at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. When told that billionaires have begun going into space in "rocket ships that look like giant penises", he draws with his finger "his signature symbol—a 12-point asterisk meant to be an asshole". Smith concludes that unlike those billionaires, she will stay on "this beautiful, wounded planet".

Christina Jarvis contends that although Vonnegut's remarks have been cast as "gloomy", his speech was similar in tone to those of others that day, perhaps in comparison even somewhat less scathing of Nixon. His comment about merely picking up trash was echoed by many Earth Day organizers, such as Denis Hayes, who warned about turning environmentalism into "a massive anti-litter campaign". She notes that Vonnegut donated his speech to Environmental Action, which printed Earth Day and used the proceeds to fund their work. Further, he granted permission for the text of his Bennington College address to be used by the Wave Hill Center for Environmental Studies in their "Earth Kit" of writings on environmentalism for use in New York City public schools. Jarvis argues that Vonnegut's subsequent works, such as Happy Birthday, Wanda June, Breakfast of Champions, "The Big Space Fuck", and Slapstick would show an increasing environmental concern after this Earth Day event.