Free Forum with Terrence McNally Free Forum Q&A: RALPH NADER THE SEVENTEEN SOLUTIONS Bold Ideas for Our American Future
Jan 23, 2015
59:49
(Originally aired 11-25-2012)
To rescue our country from corruption, complacency, and corporate domination, we need fresh ideas and bold solutions. RALPH NADER offers THE SEVENTEEN SOLUTIONS: Bold Ideas for Our American Future. Confronting economic, social, political, and environmental challenges, his ambitious, common-sense proposals address our most pressing concerns, from corporate crime to tax reform, and health care to housing.
I sometimes build an interview around three big questions about a particular issue: How is it broken? (What is the evidence?) How did it get broken? (What is the history?) How do we fix it? (What are the solutions?) NADER takes that approach with nearly twenty crucial issues. His solutions are not pie in the sky, but practical and pragmatic, and he talks about how we can actually make them happen.
I was most struck by his optimism. It is 50 years since his first book, Unsafe at Any Speed, changed what Americans expected of their automobiles. Yet, at 78, after ups and downs, after being highly praised and passionately criticized by millions, NADER is full of energy for the plans and battles ahead. Referring to the recent attention paid to the abuses of the very wealthy 1%, NADER points out another 1% we ignore at our peril. He says to achieve real change in this country, it takes 1% of the population committing themselves to making change happen.
To rescue our country from corruption, complacency, and corporate domination, we need fresh ideas and bold solutions. RALPH NADER offers THE SEVENTEEN SOLUTIONS: Bold Ideas for Our American Future. Confronting economic, social, political, and environmental challenges, his ambitious, common-sense proposals address our most pressing concerns, from corporate crime to tax reform, and health care to housing.
I sometimes build an interview around three big questions about a particular issue: How is it broken? (What is the evidence?) How did it get broken? (What is the history?) How do we fix it? (What are the solutions?) NADER takes that approach with nearly twenty crucial issues. His solutions are not pie in the sky, but practical and pragmatic, and he talks about how we can actually make them happen.
I was most struck by his optimism. It is 50 years since his first book, Unsafe at Any Speed, changed what Americans expected of their automobiles. Yet, at 78, after ups and downs, after being highly praised and passionately criticized by millions, NADER is full of energy for the plans and battles ahead. Referring to the recent attention paid to the abuses of the very wealthy 1%, NADER points out another 1% we ignore at our peril. He says to achieve real change in this country, it takes 1% of the population committing themselves to making change happen.