Monday, October 07, 2019

Ralph Nader. 19 Reasons Americans Should Be Taking To the Streets.

This is Ralph Nader's Top 19 List, "Reasons for Americans to Rise in Revolt."

There has never been more access to food—domestic and imported—yet hunger is an ongoing problem everywhere. In the U.S. alone, 16.5 million children go to bed hungry and 20% of community college students are experiencing “food insecurity.” 
Never have there been more communications technologies, yet it is harder to get through to people personally than fifty years ago. 
Never have people been able to use their right to free speech so unencumbered, yet a torrent of lies are now spread so freely and are often unchallenged. 
Never have there been higher corporate profits, yet staggering amounts of poverty and near poverty remain along with stagnant wages. 
Never have there been more medicines to alleviate pain, yet far too many of these pain killers have caused massive fatalities and addictions. 
Never has there been more liquid corporate capital piled up, yet corporate investment is proportionately lower than before. Instead, CEO’s have burned over 7 trillion dollars in unproductive stock buybacks in the past decade. 
Never have there been more exercise outlets, exercise machines and apps, yet obesity is still rampant. 
Never have there been more tax breaks for big businesses, yet big businesses use so little of the windfalls for productive investments, good jobs and shoring up pensions. 
Never has there been more free access to information, yet so little retained knowledge. 
Never have there been more impressive muckraking film documentaries and books that expose corporate and government crimes, yet this media attention produces less impact and reform. 
Never have there been more ongoing impeachable offenses and statutory violations by a president, yet the opposing Party in Congress have been reluctant to move on the many articles of impeachment. Remember how fast the unified House of Republicans moved to impeach Bill Clinton in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice? 
Never have there been more trainers, sports physicians, protective equipment and guards for professional athletes, yet there are far more injuries and days lost by players than was the case sixty years ago. Now there are helmets, gloves, pads, cushioned walls, better shoes etc. Why? 
Never has there been more to read, yet there are so few readers reading. Historically, we have gone from illiteracy to literacy to aliteracy! 
Never before has technology made it so easy for heads of government to meet, yet fewer international treaties are made. (Eg. Cyber, water, environment, consumer, labor etc.) 
Never has there been such an outrageous corporate crime wave, yet law enforcement budgets have decreased! The more big CEO’s are paid, the worse is their management. (Eg. The big banks twelve years ago, General Electric for years.) 
Never before have there been so many wrongful injuries, yet the court budgets are becoming tighter and the law of torts is being restricted. Without the defense of and use of our civil justice system, wrongful injury cases cannot go to court with a trial by jury. 
Never before has there been more corporate fraud, yet agencies tasked with bringing this fraud to justice have smaller budgets and more limitations. The budget of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is a third of one day’s worth of health care billing fraud, which is estimated this year to be $350 billion, according to Harvard’s national expert on the subject, Professor Malcolm Sparrow. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has been straitjacketed by the evil corporate crime abettor Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House Chief of Staff for corrupt Donald. 
Never has the drug industry accumulated more profits and government subsidies, yet so many patients cannot begin to afford lifesaving medicines. 
Never have the under-taxed super-rich been so rich, yet on average give a smaller proportion of their money to “good works.” Actually, middle and lower income people give more proportionally than do the ultra-wealthy.
Nader, by the way, is backing Elizabeth Warren and her call for a deep structural overhaul of how America operates and how it is governed. Meanwhile, in his Monday morning column, Chris Hedges agrees that it's time to rebel.

7 comments:

  1. Slap all the fraudsters in jail for 20 years. Canada could be going after those who are obscenely wealthy hiding their money in fraudulent countries for back taxes owed to Canada. Most politicians running for the PM'a Office are gutless and do not stand up to Welfare Corporations closing the loop holes and much, much more.

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  2. About 15 years ago I read in the Arizona Republic newspaper that per capita, it was lower income citizens who donated a higher percentage of their income to charity. The reason given was that no matter how poor they were, they felt there must be many more that are even worse off than them. Funny how that works isn't it?

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  3. It makes complete sense to me, Lulymay. For years I canvassed for the heart and cancer foundations. I carried on after I moved to toney West Vancouver. Big beautiful houses on or very near the waterfront. With few exceptions they either answered the door and said no or drew back the curtains and pretended there was no one home. Those rare exceptions, however, were generous of spirit and funds and showed me you didn't have to be a total shit to be rich.

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  4. The most generous in my experience are those that don't have the proverbial pot to piss in. There's something that can set in for the regular slug in terms of relative generosity when he acquires enough extra bucks to count and realizes there are other things he can do with them besides providing for his subsistence while allowing a little for the less well-off guy. If things go well enough he can end up agreeing with Chuck Koch. It grows on you. You don't see it coming and you don't know it when you've got it.

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  5. Read this Nader article a couple of days ago on Dissident Voice. It's one of his best.

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  6. A form of 'affluenza' John? I suppose it's easier to empathize with the hard up when you know it's a matter of a few paycheques that stands between you and them.

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