Grassroots Democracy -
This is the prime focus of Ralph Nader's campaign.
This does not mean merely getting people to vote, but getting them to take
responsibility for the whole election process, including learning the
issues, and being able to put forward their own candidates, rather than
relying on the entrenched political parties and the corporate-owned media
to tell them what and whom their choices are.
Nader: "Real decentralization would include something like this: You could
have public financing of federal elections based on voluntary check-offs on
tax returns. This could easily raise the $300 million to $400 million
needed for congressional campaigns every two years. There's no better way
to decentralize power than to make sure people's votes are not nullified by
special-interest dollars." [Rolling Stone magazine, November 16, 1995]
On a Phil Donahue interview in New Hampshire just before the Republican
primary in Feb '96, Ralph Nader spoke of how willing the typical American
is to put hard work into researching the purchase of a new car or major
appliance, but when it comes to picking a presidential candidate, we often
treat it more like choosing an ice cream flavor -- like what sound-bite
sounds the most tasty today. We really need to do the work ourselves or at
least dig up the publications of people who really do look into the records
and funding sources of the person who will be a major force in shaping the
future of our lives for at least the next four years. And as we should
see, the actions during a four year term can have substantial
longer-lasting effects, for better or worse. If our next president does
not follow through with the beginnings of a move toward a balanced budget,
the debt will get even more astronomical that it already is, and more and
more of our tax dollars will simply go to the investors who are able to
purchase that debt, including foreign corporations.
Social Justice -
This has been Ralph Nader's issue for years. Social justice means things
like having laws applied equally to an unemployed worker and to the
company that "downsized" her/him out the door because:
- they could get cheaper labor and tax rates from Mexico (since they
are allowed to pollute the air and water much more there), and/or
- he/she happened to be homosexual, and/or
- she got pregnant and was going to be needing more time off from work.
- etc.
Non-Violence -
Despite the ardor with which Nader has opposed various industries,
products, and practices throughout the years, he has always stressed
the need to work within the system (especially the legal system) to
change what needed changing.
When it comes to the military budget, he recognizes how much of it is
due to corporate welfare.
