Amid a very hectic schedule yesterday, I made sure to break away to walk to the other end of my building and listen to a refreshing and substantive speech by Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader.
The topic of his speech was civic engagement… talking to our students about why they should become active citizens in the community. Mr. Nader used very pointed examples, from Iran to corporate control of America, to motivate students to make a difference in society. And for nearly two hours, I got to listen to a political speech in which I didn’t disagree with a single thing said by the speaker.
Nader made one observation that I really had not thought of prior to yesterday… we really don’t live in a capitalistic democracy. Among other points, he noted that one major tenant of capitalism is that it thrives on true competition and that weaker competitors get washed out in the process. But that doesn’t happen in the U.S. Rather than allowing Bear Stearns to go belly-up, the U.S. government stepped in and bailed them out, using our tax dollars to do it. This isn’t competition… it is the government serving the interests of the corporations and the rich and powerful, while telling the little guy “so sorry” for being caught in the middle, and “so sorry” that the little guy has to pay higher taxes to make sure that corporations and the wealthy don;t have to pay their fair share.
Nader is right; we don’t live in a capitalist democracy. It is my view that we instead live in a plutocracy… a government of the wealthy. We feed the rich and we feed the machines, but the people can fend for themselves. And this is not just the fault of one party… both parties are equally guilty of having sold out to corporate interests. Clinton and Obama can yell all they want about defending the little guy, but either one of them is only marginally better than John McCain… it’s more like the difference of whether or not we get a sedative before we are all euthanized. Big whoop.
I continue to struggle with the choice between voting for a candidate I support in principle (Nader) with a candidate that I can believe can make some modest change (Obama). To be sure, Obama also offers the opportunity to engage in a serious dialogue on race in our nation. But Nader is correct in pointing out that the current dialogue looks more like Saturday Night Live than a serious political conversation.
Nader’s speech yesterday actually restored my faith that there are hopes to be able to turn our society around, and it cannot be with slow, incremental change, as too many people are going to suffer and get lost in the process. It truly is time for a Jeffersonian Revolution in our nation, and for that I couldn’t imagine a better spokesperson for that revolution than Ralph Nader.
Nader visits ISU, impresses necessity of civic action
By Michele Steinbacher
The PantagraphNORMAL — Democratic candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are locked in a back-and-forth exchange of barbs that illustrates a new low in presidential politics, third-party candidate Ralph Nader said Monday. | Video
Citing the latest dispute over Obama’s comment about rural voters being bitter and whether Clinton was sincere in her visit to a working-class tavern, Nader said their only hope of escape from the cycle of charge and countercharge is the voters.
“They can only be rescued by the people. … Voters need to raise the expectation levels,” said Nader, the famed consumer advocate whom Time magazine called one of the 100 most influential voices of the 20th century.
Nader was in Normal to speak at the Civic Engagement Celebration at Illinois State University. The event is tied to ISU’s participation in the American Democracy Project, which aims to help students at ISU and other campuses become more civic-minded and politically aware.
Nader called the the Democratic senators’ latest exchanges “highly exaggerated responses to casual sound bytes.” He said they embarrass the two candidates, the voters and everyone around the globe watching the presidential race.
“It’s as if these candidates are running for ‘Saturday Night Live’ and not the office of the president of the United States,” he said.
Nader called his own decision to join the presidential race a way to raise awareness about the lack of competition in the U.S. political process. The 2008 election marks his fifth campaign for the nation’s top post.
