Ralph Nader: An Unreasonable Man
February 24, 2008 – 10:43 pmI was dismayed with the cold, wet, and windy weather when I arrived back in SF after a very late Friday night flight from Austin. I decided to be a hermit on Saturday, only emerging from my room once to get a stockpile of food and water. I spent the entire day reading, watching Arrested Development on Hulu.com and napping. It was soon nighttime and the storm seemed to be at its’ worst point yet. I logged on to itunes to find a movie to rent but instead bought the movie An Unreasonable man, a documentary about Ralph Nader.
I only buy media on itunes when I’m really bored, and most of it has to do with profiles of people or society. I have shows from BET’s American Gangster series, History Channel’s Engineering an Empire, The Biography Channel’s profiles of Benjamin Franklin, Marco Polo, Michelangelo, and Jules Verne, etc.
Since a friend had recently complained to me about his car having too many warning stickers on it, and how it was all Ralph Nader’s fault of whom I knew little, I decided to purchase the documentary about him. It was a bit ironic that I purchased and watched it the night before his announcement to run for President for the fifth consecutive time.
The movie was informational, and it turns out that Nader has done a lot. Starting with his campaign to make cars safer, Nader has continued to make corporations institute changes that are in the consumer’s best interests. In fact, during his own lifetime he has saved thousands of lives by pushing corporations to be more thoughtful of the impact their products have on consumers.
Nader strongly believes that corporations have too much control over the American government and he feels he is the right candidate who can help shift power back over to the citizens. He is very wary of America’s two-party system and he finds the line between the two continuing to diminish. In fact, while watching the movie I was reminded of the 2004 debates where Nader and other 3rd party candidates weren’t allowed to participate. It turns out that the private corporation that holds the national Presidential debates are the two former Chairs of the Democratic and Republican parties and they are sponsored by a slew of corporations. Interesting.
Given the success he’s had, I am interested in learning more about Nader’s beliefs. Even though his Presidential bids have caused him to be laughable to some, I think anyone would be proud to accomplish what he has in his lifetime. From what I’ve seen, I believe him to be an honest and compassionate man who puts other’s interests ahead of his own. Although he is egotistical, I’d rather have him be such in a way that helps others rather then hurts them. I will consider him alongside the Democratic candidate, though at this point I will probably still vote for Obama (unless it turns out that he truly is unpatriotic).
