Last night the Great Issues committee sponsored “An evening with Ralph Nader” in the Saint Louis Room of Busch Memorial Center.
A three-time Green Party presidential candidate, author and veritable crusader for the average citizen, Nader has formed numerous groups to inform ordinary people about corporate negligence and governmental indifference. With standing room only, 600 people attended the event.
During his speech, Nader specifically addressed the idea of “growing up corporate,” stating that we have all grown up with our standards being set by corporations. The concentration of power in America has a large effect on the standards of justice.
Nader said that much of the money in the United States is in the hands of the rich, who are only a small percentage of the community. The commercialism we have been bombarded with our whole lives is rooted in these corporations, affecting everything from views on science and technology, pollution, even standards of beauty.
This commercialism has even affected our view of America, Nader continued. Many of us think of the United States as a prosperous country, the No. 1 country in the world, while in reality, there are tens of millions of people living in poverty.
Meanwhile, in many countries in Europe, everyone has access to universal health care, paid maternity leave and vacations and many other benefits. According to Nader, it is the fault of industry lobbyists who want to continue to profit off of the problems of the American people.
Nader’s idea to combat this effect is an economy with an emphasis on prevention. This would liberate all the dollars currently spent taking care of problems, so that citizens could voluntarily spend the money on other things.
Another of Nader’s main points was that of citizen skills. While America is called the land of the free and the home of the brave, Nader claims that the majority of America is subservient to the government and the corporations. The reason for this is that there is no teaching of citizen skills in schools.
These skills can help us to become determined and motivated citizens. They can teach us to make sure we get what we pay for and not to stand for the misuse of our tax dollars. They teach us not to tolerate inferior products or treatment from the government. It can teach us to push for good things such as public transportation and the use of cleaner resources.
Nader then quoted an old Chinese proverb,”To know and not act is not to know.” He encouraged students to form committees with faculty to make citizen skills part of the courses offered at SLU. He also encouraged everyone to take charge of their rights as citizens and to write their Congressmen, and to harness the power we have as citizens to change things.
Great Issues Chair Trish Fechter said, “He really geared his speech to the audience, and I think the people appreciated it. Overall I’m very pleased with the success of the evening.”
Jane Gramlich, a SLU alumna and a staunch Green Party supporter said, “I have never doubted Nader. That is something that I have never been able to say about someone I have voted for. I really liked how he clarified the myth that you can’t have political equality until you have economic equality.”
One senior who had previously not known very much about Ralph Nader or the Green Party claimed that she learned a lot from the event. “His ideas about growing up corporate and the power that corporations have versus the lack of power that more important social and political forces have really made sense,” she said. “Now that I’m graduating, I realize what the important issues are and can teach myself civic skills.”
Others were not so quick to agree with Nader’s ideology. Jim McNichols, a member of the College Republicans, said, “While Mr. Nader had valid points about the current system, I think many of his solutions fail to take into account the political realities that exist today. Everything isn’t the fault of the two-party system. It’s the fault of democracy . There won’t be a three-party system until the people want it.”
