A collection of columns and essays that reveal Ralph Nader at his outspoken and prescient best, fighting the good fight against corporate corruption, unbalanced political power, consumer dangers, big pharma, and climate deniers.
Features an introduction by Lewis Lapham.
This collection is classic Nader–exhorting us to make our world and nation a better place, even when faced with unchecked political and corporate power, and perverse market and regulatory incentives. He starts with the declaration that the national Democratic Party bureaucrats are either inept or bewildered. With its record-setting campaign fundraising, he bemoans how the Party can’t seem to figure out how to go on the offensive against the overtly lying, cruel, corrupt, law-breaking, Wall Street over Main Street, Trumpian Republican Party.
In another essay he praises Canada, explaining that the majority of citizens love their health care system–Medicare-for-all, free choice of doctor and hospital, everybody in, nobody out and far less expensive with better outcomes overall. Highlighting heroes like Pete Seeger, Wendell Berry, the journalist Helen Thomas, Nader also celebrates citizens like the lesser-known charismatic George S. Hawkins, general manager of the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority who brought immense energy, vision, and ambitious, overdue plans to the forefront for American’s public drinking water. Meanwhile, he doesn’t shy away from enemies–for example Nader slams the evils of Big Pharma’s strength and hold over Congress and infinite greed.
Nader also brings American history to the present day with creative twists. “We need to remember Ben Franklin, our frugal forebear, who coined the phrase ‘a penny saved is a penny earned, ‘” he writes. “Today he would say ‘a trillion BTUs saved is a trillion BTUs earned.'” Ranging from hernia repair to auto safety reports and warnings about lethal super-bugs and global pandemics from 2013, Nader’s essays and newspaper columns will inform and activate his legions of fans.
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Hi, I'm Ralph Nader
Named by The Atlantic as one of the hundred most influential figures in American history, and by Time and Life magazines as one of the most influential Americans of the twentieth century, Ralph Nader has helped us drive safer cars, eat healthier food, breathe better air, drink cleaner water, and work in safer environments for more than four decades.
The iconic champion of consumer rights first made headlines in 1965 with his pioneering bestseller Unsafe at Any Speed, a devastating indictment that lambasted the auto industry for producing unsafe vehicles. The book led to congressional hearings and automobile safety laws passed in 1966, including the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
Nader was instrumental in the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CSPC), and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA). Many lives have been saved by Nader's involvement in the recall of millions of unsafe consumer products, including defective motor vehicles, and in the protection of laborers and the environment. By starting dozens of citizen groups, Ralph Nader has created an atmosphere of corporate and governmental accountability.
Nader's recent books include Breaking Through Power with City Lights, Unstoppable, and The Good Fight. His Animal Envy, A Parable was published by Seven Stories Press in the fall of 2016. Nader writes a syndicated column, has his own radio show, and gives lectures and interviews year round.
