[407] Of Ralph Nader in Ann Arbor

Ralph Nader was Ann Arbor today and I skipped a class to attend it. And apparently, I was not the only one that skipped class. Ralph Nader’s speech was okay though the content is unique when compared to what Kerry or Bush would say.

The event was held in the Ballroom in the Michigan Union at 1300 hours. Out of the ballroom, there were some people. Some were some random people handing out some random fliers. Some where Nader supporters. Some were democrats trying to dissuade people from voting for Nader.

The room was full with a number people standing at the back. I sat in the second row. Yup, it was up front but too bad it was too much to the left that I had to twist my neck a little.

Nader talked about a few things.

One concerned how American political scene is becoming a duopoly and how the democrats are trying to prevent Nader from the ballot and how the republicans refused to hold a debate with him. I share his opinion on this. It is just too bad for such thing to happen. Dilemma – face four more years of Bush or face a duopoly well into the future. I do not know which one is the worst.

He also described how the US is different from Western Europe, where welfare level of the people there are higher than the US. Though maybe it is true that social security does not seem to work while the European’s works better, I believe Europe has a much higher unemployment rate. I am not sure if it is better to be in the US or Europe with these two things happening but in my opinion, there is a certainly a trade off between being a welfare state and not being a welfare state.

The crux of his speech is probably about corporate powers. He talked about why it is important to remove corporate powers from Washington D.C. The one phrase that might sums up all of his points on corporate powers is something like this: corporations are not people; they do not vote and they should not be in D.C.; they should not influent the policies drafted in D.C. While at it, he took a swipe at Kerry for being a face for corporations. Bush also received the criticism. Halliburton was mentioned explicitly though it was in a passing style.

Later, he encouraged the students to get involve in civil discussion and stand for democracy. Among Nader, Kerry and Bush, Nader is the one that deserves to tell people to stand for democracy from my point of view. Kerry and even less with Bush, do not seem to stand for grassroot democracy as much as Ralph Nader does.

Somewhere, he criticized the notion of anyone but Bush. His exact words were “Anyone but Bush. Leave Kerry alone. Ask no question” or something like that. He said this is the right formula for defeat and why Kerry is mostly leading marginally instead of firmly. I however cannot remember why that is so but Nader did make the idea of anyone but Bush sounds hypocritical to me.

He touched a few other things but I do not remember.

After he spoke, a Q&A session was held. I, in fact, most of the students left right after Nader wrapped up his speech. I do not know the reason why the others left but I guess the reason is the same as mine – class.

And quote of the day,

Students at Michigan are blessed, except last Saturday.

– Ralph Nader with reference to the ugly game at Notre Dame

p/s – Today, officially, Bush lets the 10-year assault rifle ban to lapse. Now, it is legal to own AK-47 or any assault rifle in America. This will be a perfect natural experiment to see whether freedom to bare arm, especially when it involves assault rifle, affects crime rate. I bet it somebody will conduct a research on this and I bet the effect on crime rate will be positive.