Tag Archives: Ralph Nader

Flipping Switches

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When’s the last time you saw an elected state or federal official struggling with poverty? I don’t know that there is one. 

I got to thinking about this recently when I read that Speaker of the House John Boehner accused the president of ignoring reality; this from a man who no doubt uses tanning beds and is apparently oblivious to the threat of melanoma. Boehner, along with other Republicans and, don’t be fooled, a number of Democrats, are hell bent on protecting tax cuts for the millionaires and billionaires, the oil and gas companies, and they have even drawn a line in the sand when it comes to protecting the tax break big-buckers get for their corporate jets.

For many many years Ralph Nader has been right and still is right when he says the country is run by big business. That’s who is driving the car in D.C. and God forbid Obama and too few others ask them to chip in their fair share. Think the New York Times is leftwing? Don’t be so sure. A recent headline regarding the financial crisis talks about Obama wanting tax increases; a headline the Time knows damned well will lead most readers to think the president wants to increase taxes on all Americans, middle class as well as the poor, when nothing could be further from the truth.

And why would the Times opt for a purposefully misleading headline; its owned and run by wealthy folks who don’t want their tax breaks ended.

If you have plenty of money and little if any conscience, it doesn’t take much to flip a switch designed to not just protect but increase your wealth knowing full well that your switch flipping will damage some lives, destroy others, and end still others. In moments like this I am hoping there is a just God because if there is, payback will be a bitch for some of these folks. Perhaps those wounded and ended by their greed will offered a chance to watch the payback if they want to.

I wish I could flip a switch that would turn off the greed-based decision making spewed by too many of our wealthy elected officials.

 

THE COST OF ADVOCACY

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Someone who loves me recently suggested I might want to consider pulling back on my advocacy for others when my advocacy might hurt me, or cause me to lose a job. I am moved by her kindness and caring and understand fully why she and others worry about my welfare. But I can’t hold back on my advocacy at all.


Dante Alighieri wrote, “The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality,” or stay silent. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The true measure of a man’s strength is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of trial and controversy.”


Whatever price I might pay for my human rights advocacy is far less than the price I would pay, emotionally, morally, spiritually and physically, if I chose silence. Moreover, whatever price I pay pales in comparison to those enduring the experience of being treated as if they are less human than others. A woman who is a good friend of mine and a survivor of brain injury recently pointed out to me that once you become disabled, you are expected to be obedient, you are expected to acquiesce to the will of others, often people that have anything but your interest at heart. She is right.


I will never sit quietly by when I see others being denied their civil rights, their right to live in dignity. For the last decade plus my advocacy has been focused primarily on people with disabilities, primarily people with brain injuries – like me. But I have and will always advocate for those who are gay, black, latino, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, etc. It is who I am.


I have lost jobs because of my advocacy. It is quite likely my current struggles can in large part be traced back to my unwillingness to keep my mouth shut when I witnessed people being denied their rights. It is a price I am more than willing to pay.


Consider the following observations:


  • If there were not millions involved in the Civil Rights struggle, we would not be referring to Barack Obama as President-elect Barack Obama.
  • Were millions not advocating for gay rights, there wouldn’t even be a dialogue about whether or not to give an official nod to gay marriage.
  • Had people not advocated, women may still not have the right to vote, black Americans would still be riding in the back of the bus and there would not be an American with Disabilities Act.
  • Were there not extraordinary consumer advocates like Ralph Nader there would not be cushioned dashboards and air bags and seat belts and more. Do you think the auto companies put them in out of the goodness of the hearts? If you do, then you have a better fantasy life than I do.

I have said more than once that I am willing to give my life in the struggle for equal rights for all. I meant it.

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