Interview: Ralph Nader Says We're Living Under Corporate Fascism
Ralph Nader, running for President in 2008, sat down with Red Tape Chronicles to talk about the current deplorable state of consumer affairs. The video kicks butt and reminds me why I get up in the morning. Highlights:
On the derailing of the consumer protection movement: Laws aren't being enforced, not enough prosecutors on the corporate fraud beat.
On the other candidates: Their campaigns are based on law and order. Not one has put the words consumer and protection together in one of their speeches.
On unfair contracts: A common clause now says that the seller has the right to change terms of contract at any time, that's the end of contract law.
On the sub-prime meltdown: It's the government's job to force credit rating settings. There should be a plain-language law mandating that mortgages are written in a language average people can understand
On education: Spend so much time teaching students to use computers but we don't teach kids how to shop for their maximum health safety and economic well-being... what's the point of earning money if you're just going to lose it to corporate scams?
On activism: You want a better country, you've got to spend more of your time more time away from american idol, and more time on your members of Congress. We're millions of people, but corporations don't have a single vote, and members of congress are there because of our votes, so make those votes count.
Video inside.
Note: Anyone ranting off-topic in the comments about how Nader threw the election may get a visit from *~El Bandito~*
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Comments:
Nader is senile.
People throw around the 'f' word but they have demonstrated time and time again that they do not understand what it means at all.
OK, wow, now I remember why I LOVE Ralph Nader. He just makes the two parties' candidates look like total dumbasses.
He used to do useful things, now he just spouts off corporations are evil talking points and runs as a spoiler candidate every few years.
We'd have a lot more respect for you if you actually did something (in the last 10 years) about the evils you speak of.
i agree about the unfair contracts point he made. I still don't understand how contracts entered into by both sides can be changed as the corporation sees fit. Both sides should have to abide by it for the length of the contract. That's what i've always been taught about contracts.
i resent him being a spoiler and enabling bush in 2000 but i think he is right. devo put it better; they said, in the 70's, that we are living in a corporate feudal system.
@Dobernala: one telling feature of fascism is the state and industry becoming so intertwined that they resemble one entity. in that sense, he is right on.
@hellinmyeyes: Uh huh, and handing the 2000 election to Bush and directly undermining the ideology closer to his own was genius-level thinking. Talk about dumbasses.
I love this guy. I wish he could win the presidency.
People like to throw around the 'f' word because of its association with corporatism, even though it is a rejection of the large for-profit business entities that they are referring to.
I am not saying it is either good or bad, I am just saying that the things they are criticizing in modern society have absolutely nothing to do with fascism.
At least he didn't say we should spend less time on Consumerist.
No credibility anymore since he refuses to stop running for president.
You guys come here to read about how retailers and other services don't give you what you want, yet you call him "senile" and a "spoiler". I hate to tell you people, but he is one of a handful of politicians that care about the consumers. For you people that hate him, absorb this quote...
"The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." Franklin D. Roosevelt April 29, 1938
Stopped watching when there was a cut at 00:40. The cutting away from interviewer and interviewee is a big enough red flag, but cutting anything out of an answer is an immediate reason to walk away.
ralph wasn't the spoiler. bush lost the popular vote remember? don't you guys know that the winners are already picked out before the election begins? they just have the elections and hopes that america will pick the same guy as the electoral college.
Mussolini called fascism "Corporativo Estado" -- the corporate state. It is an economic system, not to be confused with Nazism, which is a derivative of same.
The symbol of fascism is the fasces -- a bundle of rods and an axe. This represents the power of the state to control, punish and execute.
The Bush family has a long history of involvement in fascism in America, including but not limited to a planned coup by Prescott Bush, GW's grandfather. Popular Marine Corps General Smedley Buttler deflated the scheme when he was asked to join in the overthrow. The Bush family banks bankrolled Hitler, and several banks were take from the Bush family for trading with the enemy as late as 1942. Google it on the net. The BBC is a good place to start.
Anybody have a Corvair for sale? Preferably one with no seatbelts.
I wish someone would put Nader in some cabinet position as consumer protection tzar or some such thing. I think with some actual power to influence things in a more direct fashion he would be more useful than as a President.
He was right on everything except the issue of computers. In the way that they are becoming too much of a focus in schools, in some cases he is right. But there is so much information online to find best prices, find out what is a scam, and do consumer research you can't just ignore the potential. Keep the computers, show people how to use them to wrest more control from the companies.
@snoop-blog: And dont forget that Diebold and the Ohio Elections Commissioner handed Ohio to Bush on a silver platter.
"People still pay attention to this guy?" Well if you listened to what he said, it's alot of common sense.
"Nader is senile." He hasn't said much of anything that would denote senility in this interview has he? These one line comments just don't ammount to more than small minded unsupported opinions. Please say something worthwhile or not at all.
As for facism, there's no clear line of what is or isn't. But it is clear that consumerism and corporations are detrimental to American well being. Our economy is hurt by corporations outsourcing to other countries without fair trade agreements. This whole website is devoted to examples of how corporations and companies exist to get away with what they can.
I wouldn't vote for Nader simply because I think Obama may be the most honest candidate in a while. After seeing him on the Daily Show my thoughts were that he's either the best political liar around or he's really honest and cares. People just shoot him down with the "lack of experience" line over and over. But it seems like the more experience a candidate has, the more corrupt the candidate is. Nobody's said a thing about White Water since Hillary's been a candidate, what about that?
Nader may not be a good candidate, he's frumpy, doesn't have the personality the sheep of America want. But he would make a good cabinet member for Obama (not that it would happen).
Nader = Consumerist 1.0 ... "Still available in analog!"
"Dear Mr. Nader...thank you for your obligatory presidential cycle appearance....Please exit stage left. We'll have someone call you....really...we will."
"NEXT!"
@bohemian: Amen. He could be really useful as the right-hand man of our next prez. Senile or not, we Americans owe Nader a lot of appreciation for all the hard work he's put in. He was interviewed in a great NY Times piece about the corporatization of the Supreme Court, and his agency has basically been stripped of power. Think of what he could do at the cabinet level.
Remember, folks, this is the man we have to blame for 8 years of Bush presidency. Well, maybe that's not fair, but in any case I don't think he should be considered as credibly interested in helping the American people - more like interested in his own power and influence.
This asshole is a good chunk of the reason Bush ended up in the White House. Screw this dick.
Why doesn't he stop wasting everyone's time running for president to whine about evil corporations and start DOING something about it?
Because he's a nutjob, that's why.
@harumph:
@A.W.E.S.O.M.-O:
The important thing to do is to learn from that mistake and only vote for a candidate who is on the ballot in enough states to actually win the election. To my knowledge, in both 2000 and 2004, he was not on enough state ballots to win, and yet ppl voted for him.
Unless you are diametrically opposed to a majority of the ideals of all the candidates, you should always vote for the candidate that shares the most of your higher priority ideals with you, regardless of his/her party affiliation.
For most people in this country, those ideals are not shared by either of the Republicrats.
<rant request="forgiveness" required="patience">
One of my higher priority ideals is freedom, so the Republicrats are, for the most part, immediately withdrawn from my list of candidates. The second is truthfulness, so Hillary's immediately off my list and I don't know much about McCain, but he's a Republican, and their track record on truthfulness is something at which to be disgusted. Obama I have yet to see caught in a lie, but being caught lying, and actually lying, are two different things.
The last of my higher priority ideals is attempting peace before attempting war. Further ranting removed by the author to avoid offending the "USA Patriots" in the room.
</rant>
lol, blaming him for Bush. Screw the democratic process!! Stole votes from Al Gore. Stole? More like Al Gore sucks. Even though he created the interwebs, look at what he has done with global warming. Been 100% wrong. Why do you think its not in the news anymore? This guy is an idiot. Think about what he could have done if he was president, all that he would have done for global warming, the warming that does not exist. Before you attack me, go read the latest news on global warming.
Un-Informed attacks have a 15% restocking fee.
@Optimus: Wow based on past posts I thought you were intelligent. Sad. Obama hasn't been caught lying? What about his first response to the Jerimah Write, where he said he had no knowledge of previous rants. Then 3 days later said he had knowledge, but didn't agree with it. What about his housing issues and the lies with that? Republicans are liars? What about Clintons snipers in Bosnia. What about the prostitution ring. What about attacking Rush for operation chaos and saying democrats don't do that. What about the 3 democrats in the news now in trouble for taking money from Sadam Hussein and obviously they say they haven't been. What about Al Gore's use of Global warming as politicing? Do you want me to go on?
Look they are all liars. To say republicans lie more then democrats is absurd. In most situations this is individuals lying, not parties. Get a clue sir.
people who attack nader as a "spoiler" are missing the big picture. the reason bush won in 2000 and 2004 is that the dems failed to come up with a candidate that was better than him or that represented the "ideals" of their own party. they're in the process of making the very same mistake - and that's why the white house will remain in republican hands and why i will vote for nader again.
the point nader makes by running is that the repubs and dems do not care what the public want - they merely forward candidates that have the support of the monied interest groups. nader is a hero for doing what he does.
Nader brings up some important issues. Let's talk about those instead of bashing him personally. Also, read the last sentence of the post before commenting.
@fluiddruid: @YouCanEatMe: Ugh. You guys are ill-informed morons. Nader was used as a scapegoat. Put the blame on the Supreme Court, Katherine Harris and Fox News for calling it too early.
Also, put the blame on Al Gore for not blowing Bush out of the water, which should have been done easily. If he had won his home state, Tennessee, he would've won regardless of Florida's outcome.
Go Nader! Its nice to finally listen to someone with a brain.
Hes not saying no computers hes saying there needs to be time spent on fiscal responsibility. Next thing you know the U.S. is gonna be just like idiocracy...
@Ben Popken: good point. Sorry I get emotional.
I like Nader personally, and I think it's great we still have people who try in this 2-party system. He has some good points. Wish he would get a bigger % of the votes. I'm sure a lot of people like, but they feel like a vote for him is throwing away a vote, since he cant win. Which is true, but it still sends a message.
¿Quien es el bandito?
I wish the guy had a different plan for getting media attention besides being an electoral spoiler. It's a sad state of affairs when the media conspire to keep stories that impact literally everyone in favor of which celebrity slag is abandoning her children this week.
God, that commie loser Ralph is still around? Sheesh. Some people just never take the clue.
@snoop-blog: I bet you don't even know how the Electoral College works.... Bet you didn't know that before the election, no one knows WHICH electoral college gets to vote... I bet you didn't even know there is more than 1 electoral college. Its not fixed... Its just broken.
I believe Nader is correct in recognizing the corporate fascist element that seems to have become the norm here.
One of the historical elements of fascism is that the industrial and business aristocracy of a fascist nation often are the ones who put the government leaders into power, creating a mutually beneficial business/government relationship and power elite.
Fascism is not just about a bunch of boot-jacked thugs marching through the streets and pulling people out of their homes. Those who claim that fascist elements such as the corporate/government relationship are not currently occurring, have either failed to understand the full historical scope of what fascism is about or they have chosen to ignore the presently surrounding signs of its existence.
Hitler's rise to power was an example of the complacency of the German populace by their failure to understand or recognize what was occurring before it was too late to do anything about it.
I dont think that we're living in a corporate-fascist country. That's a little too tin-foil hat for my taste. Why don't we acknowledge that corporations do a lot of good for our country? Why all the doom and gloom.
Here's an article about how wal-mart saved hundreds of lives in the aftermath of Katrina
All of the progress made in the 19th century....the abolition of slavery, woman's suffrage, labor reform , minimum wage and so on...were championed by third parties.
Anyone here who thinks the major parties are going to change things is mistaken.
What's the difference between Dems and Repubs...nothing, they both suck.
Nader's list of accomplishments would make any president crap his pants.
All he's trying to do is bring important issues to the national level...all the two parties have to do is pick up the ball and run with them...
Obama, per NPR's Peter Overby..
...leads all candidates in fund raising from the financial sector.
He's gonna have to pay them back somehow. Let me guess...Wall St. will continue to socialize their losses at the People's expense.
He's just another Uncle Tom.
Hillary...LOL
Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. Yeah, um...no.
McCain...perhaps...his support for the war blows.
@Ben Popken: Not sure if that note has always been there, but if you're that worried about it, make it more visible.
@youbastid: i second that to a degree. gore ran a bad campaign and listened too much to his advisers instead of being himself. that part where nader played a role was in siphoning off some votes for gore in fla. if gore had won decisively ther would have been no recount and no supreme court nonsense. so i think nader did play a certain role but you cannot lay it totally on him.
@Dobernala: i still disagree with you in the sense that i think corporatism to be one of the hallmarks of fascism, not fascism itself.
Nader's encroaching on Bill Maher's throne of sideline criticising and annoyingness.
Does that even make sense? I think I had too much coffee.
@B: HA
@petrarch1608: One act that basically boiled down to government borrowing of a private system. Fed Ex jumped in and helped too.
This is sort of like a gang of thugs delivering some gifts to the local toys for tots drive.
If we had better government disaster planning either they would have had their own plan & system in place or they would have already put a plan in place to pull private businesses into temporary government service in a crisis. IIRC isn't there already some sort of seizure clause in a time of war or major national disaster? Isn't that how private ships were put into service during WWII?
That is all really beside the point though.
Who could stand up right now, quit your job and cut all associations and contracts with corporations and live a comfortable normal life still in contact with the rest of the world. Very darn few. We are in a state of utter dependence. Not just your paycheck, your home or apartment, utilities, food, private transit, communications. Most of those require you having some relationship with a corporation or business.
This is why we need better consumer protection.
Despite his kookiness, Nader is more right than he is wrong, regarding consumer issues. I for one am glad he's still around.
@petrarch1608:
"Why don't we acknowledge that corporations do a lot of good for our country? Why all the doom and gloom. Here's an article about how wal-mart saved hundreds of lives in the aftermath of Katrina"
If Walmart is such an example of a so-called, do-good corporation, why has their corporate sanctioned behavior become so controversial throughout the country?
Their suing of a former employee who is in a nursing home for $470,000 comes to mind.
You can claim all you want (and Gore certainly ran a lousy campaign), but the fact remains that the evidence is overwhelming that, had Nader not run, Gore would have won.
@BearTack: Sounds like people here need to read "Liberal Fascism", the #1 NYT bestseller, to be educated on fascism's liberal roots.
Not surprising, since it's the best-kept secret of liberalism. Well, one of them anyways.
Go Nader!!!
People still pay attention to this guy?