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Summary: The First Step to Rekindling the American Dream
Review: This book should be mandatory reading for all present and soon to be voters. Any Republican or Democrat who reads this book and isn't enlightened must have tunnel-vision.
Mr. Nader tells it like it was during his presidential campaign. The insurmountable hurdles placed in his path and his efforts to open the doors of democracy. I was shocked to learn that the key presidential debate (which he wasn't permitted to participate in) is controlled by the two major parties, by a private corporation no less. The book is a must read for anyone who takes the american political system to heart.
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Summary: Interesting info on media
Review: Anyone who has seen RN in person will recognize this insightful socio-political travelogue as classic RN style in many ways. As is probably typical of RNs followers, I don't like to listen to political sound bytes, and RN generally doesn't speak soundbyte, so to read his text is much like listening to him speak.People go to hear RN because they need more substance in their political news, and so no one is surprised or even tired by the long sentences -- characteristic of more complex idea development-- when he speaks. This long structure carries over into the book as long sentences to read, but that is to be expected with the nature of the material and degree of detail with which he normally covers a topic. It is still a rather fast read, except that it often requires the reader to put it down to either absorb some tidbit detail, or because of suddenly becoming too [mad]at the republicratic party. What I find to be enormously insightful was the almost offhanded way in which he describes his interactions with various facets of American media. Wielding non-visibility over candidates at will is media holding democracy hostage.
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Summary: Essential Reading
Review: Nader offers a treasure of valuable information on current U.S. politics. His voice is authentic, engaging, and inspiring throughout. He tracks the details of what brought about his candidacy, how the Democrats were defeated, and how they have tried to punish him. Nader demonstrates why the issues from his campaign will become increasingly dominant in U.S. politics. Excellent bibliography. Don't miss this great book by our foremost advocate of democracy. Essential reading to be informed about issues in U.S. today.
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Summary: Nader still has it - eloquence, insight, and humor
Review: I thought this book might be dry and only for those who didn't watch C-Span and the coverage of his 2000 campaign like I did. But Nader surprised me with an expanded set of ideas on the ills of our democracy since the election and unending anecdotes of how our government and its plastic politicians cheat us out of a better future. The book is quite funny if you enjoy dry humor and appreciate machine gun paced wit, and an unending exploration into the absurd obstacles Nader faced against a two party corporate political system. The book is quite personal, at least as personal as Nader gets, and is touching with reflection on Nader's upbringing and his disappointment in people's low expectations. Even if you followed the 2000 campaign studiously, you will learn much from this book about the last election and what's ahead for Green and progressive minded people.
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Summary: Review on Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Govern
Review: Yo pienso que este libro es interesante, pero no lo suficientemente interesante como para leerlo para la entretención de un lector. En lo personal yono le tomo mucha importancia a la polÃtica cometitiva porque todo lo que se habla es argumentos sin sentido y para obtenerpopularidad y no se ve la energÃa o el animo de querer ser el presidente de los Estados Unidos si no que solo obtener popularidad.
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Summary: Alternative Medicine For Corporate Aristocracy
Review: This is an excellent book on the issues that face American politics today, the views of Ralph Nader and his story relating to the 2000 election year and his campaign trail.
The book raises awareness to the issues of corporate welfare practiced by both the Republican and Democratic parties, how the Democrats have morphed into a pseudo-Republican party, under the heavy influence of corporate lobbyists, ceasing to represent the working class and masses as Roosevelt and other great Democrats have done in the past.
And the results are ecological damages, social injustices which have removed equal opportunities, centralization of power, corporate owned business which has eliminated much of the community based revenues, a disrespect for diversity and citizen participation and the monetary interests of plutocrat - the corporate elites - removing personal and global responsibilities. Inflation has risen, workers make less, poverty has increased, minimum wage is lower today in relation to inflation. Americans work longer hours for the same pay. Farmers have been devastated by large corporate industry, public works and schools have been given less and less funding and are crumbling, corporate welfare programs that take our tax dollars amounting to hundreds of billions of dollars ever year continue to rise with government giveaways of taxpayer assets including public forests, minerals and new medicines. Affordable housing are at record low levels, while the large corporate banks show record profits. Consumer debt is at a al-time high. Personal bankruptcies are at a record level. Personal savings are dropping to record lows and personal assets are extremely low. Corporate welfare dominates while small inadequate budgets provide the publics health and safety issues. Environmental regulations are removed for corporate interests. Wealth inequality is greater than at any time since World War II. The top 1 percent of the wealthiest people have more financial wealth than the bottom 90 percent of Americans combined, the worst inequality among large Western nations. And with all this, the corporate lobbyists continue to receive more privileges and immunities for their wrongdoing, while the workers, the labor parties, the populists - farmers, the environmentalists, the feminists, those that work towards civil rights - all are diminishing in great degrees.
The argument against Nader is his pulling of votes away from the Democrats, resulting in Republican elections. Yet this argument is a lame duck when you put Socratic inquiry to the Democratic party and see the morphing there of into another Republican party. The two party duopoly has been called the DemRep party and the corporate control, the plutocrats, are buying the government which can result in an aristocracy and totalitarian system, this time base on radical privatization instead of state owned communism, however the end results are the same. The third party, the Greens, offer an alternative, a vote against big-money politics as usual. The duopoly offers a politics of fear - the lesser of two corrupt parties, while the third party offers a politics of home and democratic renewal And even if not the elected party, if offers itself as a constant watchdog of the Democratic party to make necessary changes.
I think Nader gives a good account of the media, the third party partisan bias in American politics, the problem with the corporate directed Commission on Presidential Debates - the CPD, his campaign trail, his opposition, party funders, party loyalists and etc.
On page 289 take from the New York Times: "The Green Party recognizes that every major social-justice movement in our history was made possible by a shift of more power to the people, away from the power that the few control. And it's way past time for a shift of power today from big business to the people. When slavery was abolished, shift of power from the plantations. Women's right to vote installed, that was a shift of power. Freedom to form trade unions by workers, shift of power form the industrialists to the workers. When the farmers started the progressive political movement, shift of power from the banks and the railroads to the farm areas and gave us political reforms for all Americans to enjoy to this day 100 years later. Power is the central contention of politics; that's what it's all about. If we don't have a more equitable destitution of power, there is no equitable distribution of wealth or income. And people who work hard will not get their just rewards. And the main way to shift power, if you had to have one reform is with public funding of public elections. Clean money, clean elections. Clean money and clean elections to stop the nullification of your votes by special interest money. Just thing about it; you go down to vote, you expect it to count, and the votes are cut off at the pass by fancy fund-raising dinners all over the country where fat cats pay off politicians for present and future favors and the politicians shake down the fat cats in a kind of combined symbiosis of legalized bribery and legalized extortion."
"Civilization as if people are first is not just about opportunities; it is about limits and boundaries around antisocial, criminogenic behavior whose limitless logic eventually would spell omnicide for this very limited home we call Mother Earth." page 315
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Summary: the inside story
Review: This is a good recount of the inside story of our nation and it's one party political machine. Nader talks about how hard it is for third party (or in my view second party since the first two are basically the same) candidates to make any progress in our political system. It is the democrats who lost 2000 by giving up the recount vote, not Nader. Too bad he decided to go off and do his own thing this time instead of working on forming the Gree Party. But the book is definately a must read for anyone interested in our political system.
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Summary: Review on Crashing the Party: Taking on the Corporate Govern
Review: Yo pienso que este libro es interesante, pero no lo suficientemente interesante como para leerlo para la entretención de un lector. En lo personal yono le tomo mucha importancia a la política cometitiva porque todo lo que se habla es argumentos sin sentido y para obtenerpopularidad y no se ve la energía o el animo de querer ser el presidente de los Estados Unidos si no que solo obtener popularidad.
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Summary: A once great man is now fading away
Review: I was glad that I purchased this book. Ralph Nader is a brilliant person. He tells of how the many (but not all) of the Democrats and Republicans have become corrupted. I do wish Nader had told of where he and the Green Party stand on the issues. He expects people to look at internet websites to find out that information but he doesn't realize that many people don't have internet access. He tells of how our government is being taken over and how we the people must take it back.
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