Green Takes On Giants

His name may not yet be on the tip of everyone s tongue. His pocket money amounts to mere pennies in comparison to his opponents limitless coffers. But there s something definitely stirring in the Ralph Nader camp. And its ripples are beginning to be felt across the dormant pool where George W. Bush and Al Gore have been doggie paddling for almost a year already.

Green politics has always been laden with a watery identity. Ever since West Germany s leading activist, Petra Kelly s untimely demise, there s been a vacuum in environmental political leadership. Here, green politics has had a laudable track record, but one almost completely devoid of charisma. Trevor Sargeant and John Gormley continue to fight the good fight, but far more passion has been aroused by the GM protestors in Wexford and the tenacious exploits of the Glen of the Downs activists than by any Green Party campaign.
The environment, the food we put in our bodies, the fuel we burn, the corporate giants at whose altar we worship are rarely the source of serious debate, particularly Stateside. But there are occasional chinks of light peeping through. More and more people are beginning to question the predictability of the Republican/Democrat platforms, which are barely distinguishable from one another these days. Few issues of real substance separate the two presidential candidates a worrying prospect for anyone with an eye on what it means to live in a democracy.
As Robert Bryce of The Austin Chronicle pithily remarked: the difference [between Bush and Gore] is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when corporations knock on their door .
Ralph Nader, long time environmental activist, standard bearer for green politics for over three decades (when it was neither popular nor profitable to be so), believes that the time is ripe for change. Only thing is, people like Ralph Nader get even less airtime in the U.S. where even a moderate appetite for gun control or fresh air places you so far left of centre that you re virtually off the page before the get go.
Recently, however, Nader s been edging his way onto prime time TV 30 second shots at goal that capture the essence of green politics, boxed, be-ribboned and delivered to millions of voters to digest over dinner. He s a man who believes as much in walking the walk as in talking the talk. Nader lives on an annual salary of $25,000, (a sum that d barely keep the Bush campaign in plane tickets for a week) and when asked how he manages it, admits that he doesn t even find time to spend it all. His particular bugbears are: corporate government in general (which he maintains, has taken democratic government hostage over the past three decades), and General Motors in particular, (who went to extraordinary lengths to discredit him after he exposed their appaling safety standards in his book Unsafe At Any Speed); the International Monetary Fund which holds developing countries to ransom while bankrolling despots; America s insistence on turning its back on the genocide of Rwanda and East Timor and more besides.
Above all, though, Nader s key message is that power must be taken out of the hands of moneyed America and returned to the individual voter if democracy is ever to return to centre stage.
hotpress had to rise to a considerable gallop to catch up with Nader on the campaign trail recently in Washington D.C. Unlike many of our own public representives, Nader doesn t shun the media. In fact, he generously gave of himself for this brief interview, ignoring the cries of campaign hacks anxious to keep him on schedule.
A strong democracy brings out the best in people, he offers, and I ve always believed in siding with the peasants and workers rather than with dictators and oligarchs. I mean, we all know that the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank are not possessors of great ideas. But if we want to change the way business is done, we ve got to make sure that our soundbytes become sound barks.
Airing those soundbytes and barks isn t simply a case of uttering them though. Access to the airwaves is a continuing struggle, as the major news networks favour the broad brush strokes of a two-party campaign.
It s an uphill struggle, Nader admits. Just the other day they (the media) had a major story headlined Gore relaxing in North Carolina , so even when the major candidates relax, they re in the news. So we have to keep expanding the grassroots activity, because that increases the polls. When the polls go up, the mass media responds to the polls. So in order to avoid a Catch 22, you ve got to connect with neighbourhoods all over the country. Get people out and involved in local issues.
Nader s disdain for corporate America, with its almost autistic fixation on the bottom line, is temporarily relieved by the occasional beacon of hope. Big business has few competitiors in this incessant drive for the greenbacks though.
There is one called The Interface Corporation, he notes, in Atlanta, Georgia which is the second largest carpet and tile manufacturer in the U.S., and since 1994 it s been on a steady dynamic course to achieve zero pollution. That s the kind of leadership that we seldom see in the world of American business.
Nader s reputation for taking a stand on consumer issues, fighting insurance companies, global trade agreements and corporate lobbyists whose interests rarely coincide with those of Joe Public, are slowly beginning to make a dent in the public consciousness Stateside. He has also authored, co-authored or sponsored many books, including Action for a Change, Corporate Power in America, Taming the Giant Corporation, Verdicts on Lawyers, The Menace of Atomic Energy, Who s Poisoning America, Winning the Insurance Game, and The Frugal Shopper.
He s a man with a mission. It ll be very interesting to see just how far he can take it over the coming months.
For more information on the Ralph Nader Presidential Campaign, see his website: www.votenader.com