"Only The Super Rich Can Save Us" - An Evening With Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader at the Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, CO 10-1-09

Ralph Nader appeared at the Tattered Cover in Denver on Thursday, October 1. A standing-room only audience of about 150 were treated to a more relaxed (compared to his campaign style) but no less energetic citizen activist. Utilizing his particularly pointed style of dry humor, Nader mixed comic stories with serious analysis of the contemporary American civic scene.

He is on the road talking about his first fictional book, "Only The Super-Rich Can Save Us!" Most critics are calling the work a 21st-century "utopian" novel, in that it proposes seemingly far-fetched progressive solutions to contemporary issues.

In "Super-Rich," Nader imagines a coalition of billionaires and multi-millionaires who decide to move past philanthropy to power-shifting: taking up progressive causes that benefit all citizens. Using their wealth, the group operates in secret and funds various types of nationwide social activism, launches a new political party, and takes on the corporate business giants by playing their game - spending mega-amounts of money to achieve their goals.

Nader pointed out that every social justice movement in American history - such as the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, the civil rights struggles - began as an idea. He hopes his fictional "idea" will start citizens thinking. "And," he added, "you'll never be afraid to ask a rich person for money again."

Nader began with some short remarks about the book. Then he moved into a lengthy question-and-answer session that touched on many topics, but mainly revolved around health care (Nader endorses SinglePayerAction.org) and the stranglehold that corporations - and embedded "corporate-think" - have on American society.

One questioner asked if Nader felt that the passage of any kind of "public option" in the current health care bills would possibly derail the single-payer, universal health care movement. Nader offered a definitive view: "The public option is dead...when the President says 'it's just a sliver' of the overall program to a shark tank like Congress...you have to read the code. What's happening now is just theater." He predicts there will be a "second round" of discussion in years to come, as the current bills do nothing to stop rising costs, both for premiums and care - and that the next wave will include calls for action from more ordinary citizens who will continue to suffer from the current system's multiple inequities.

Nader's use of real-life billionaires and multi-millionaires - Warren Buffet, Bill Cosby, Bill Gates, Yoko Ono, Ted Turner and more - as his book's socially-driven protagonists prompted questions. He mentioned that Turner ("frenetic" in Nader's estimation) and Buffet ("a man who says he and other super-rich should be taxed more") both gave him favorable mentions. Another real-life/fictional character was more "snippy - I can't say the name because I'm still dealing with the problem!" he said to spontaneous laughter.

Another asked if it was okay to promote progressive causes and make money from it, citing filmmaker Michael Moore's box-office successes. Nader said that Moore made millions from "Sicko", and asked Moore if he would donate $5 million to open a single-payer lobbying office in Washington. According to Nader, Moore declined. (Moore appeared the next day at Nader's Washington headquarters to threaten electoral opposition to congressional Democrats who don't support the "public option":http://www.singlepayeraction.org/blog/?p=1563.) Then Nader asked if anyone could guess his advance on his current book - which he revealed was "zero, nada, nothing." He said he wanted the book out quickly,without being hamstrung by publishing lawyers; taking no upfront money helped achieve that goal. He mentioned that publisher Seven Stories Press also has works by Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn in its catalogue - those names brought applause from the crowd.

One attendee castigated Nader, saying that "Super-Rich" is an insult to the history of social equality movements and flies in the face of his own activism. The idea that people need monied messiahs, rather than their own skills and fortitude, struck him as ignoble and defeatist. Nader replied that a quick check of American history would show that many social movements had wealthy backers, especially at the outset when resources and funds were most needed. With more super-rich people than ever before, Nader opined that we only need about 1% of them to take this course of action.

On the subject of activism, a question was asked about the recent "Tea-Bagger" protests. In Nader's view, there is a group of ultra-conservative, single issue citizens - gun control, abortion rights, tax reform, closet racists - who need little excuse to gather and march. "You just have to send the bus, and they will show up," he said, noting that while the overall theme of the well-organized event was government spending, a quick survey of signs in the crowd showed that many arrived supporting their favorite single issue. "I'm glad they got out there - anything to get people into the streets and talking is good" he said.

Nader wrapped up saying that he had to leave to tape a media appearance for an Allen Colmes show. He noted that Fox News is about the only major media outlet that will have him on regularly - even though many of them are "right wing yahoos." "Fox thrives on conflict. MSNBC, CNN, ABC, CBS - they don't want conflict."

Do not miss hearing Ralph Nader speak if he comes to your town. His insights, ideas and actions have improved America - listening to him is definitely worth your time.