Unstoppable
I picked up Unstoppable by Ralph Nader for $5.00. It was on the “Last Chance” rack outside of Books-A-Million. In the book, Ralph Nader gives examples of times when political factions have overcome their normally antagonistic natures to form an “unstoppable coalition.” He goes on to outline twenty-five areas in which he believes a coalition of factions would be “unstoppable” and would lead, in his opinion, to a more perfect union.
I do not necessarily recommend the book, nor do I agree with many of Mr. Nader’s conclusion. However, his ideas, taken one by one do provide a convenient catalyst for discussions of the American political landscape. For instance, Mr. Nader’s overall bias seems to be that Corporations are far too powerful and influential in America. While some recent events lend credence to that perspective, I believe it would be unwise to bring America to its knees by hamstringing the entrepreneurial spirit of American Corporations with excessive regulation.
The title of chapter four of the book is “Twenty-five Proposed Redirections and Reforms through Convergent Action”. Chapter five discusses each of the proposed actions in some further detail.
Below you will find a list of Ralph Nader’s twenty-five proposed actions. Only the first item in the list will be an active link on this first day of the project (Wednesday 6/15/2016). Over the course of the next month additional items in the list will become active links. When each link is activated it will lead to paraphrasing of Mr. Nader’s proposal. At the end of the summary of Mr. Nader’s idea you will also find a link called “WinLoseorDraw’s Commentary.” That link will reveal what I have to say on the subject….my capsule analysis.
The first activated item is Defense Budget over run/oversight. Click the link below to read the summary, and then, if you see fit, click the Commentary link to read my capsule analysis. Then please go back and add a comment of your own to the overall discussion.
WinLoseorDraw
Links:
- Defense budget over run/oversight Activated
- End corporate subsidies and bailouts
- Regulate government contracting to eliminate “sweet heart” contracting with “preferred” vendors
- Link the minimum wage to inflation Actvated
- Tax reform Activated
- Break up banks and institutions that are too big to fail
- Facilitate charity
- Loosen the legal restrictions on standing to sue
- Increase grass roots ballot initiatives
- Facilitate locally owned community businesses
- Modify the electoral process Activated
- Defend and Extend Civil Liberties Activated
- Modify schools Activated
- End unconstitutional wars and unchecked militarism
- Reverse or revise the North American Free Trade Association (N.A.F.T.A.) and the World Trade Organization (W.T.O.)
- Stop child directed commercialism
- Abolish corporate personhood
- Exercise more control of public commons
- Get tough on corporate crime
- Empower the owner-shareholders of public corporations
- Ban the patenting of life forms
- Rethink the war on drugs
- Prioritize the protection of our environment
- Advance health
- Diffuse convergence
On Civil Liberties and Homeland Security
Merriam-Webster online defines Civil Liberty: “freedom from arbitrary interference in one’s pursuits (as in expressing thoughts, practicing a religion, or pursuing a living) by individuals or especially by the government and especially as constitutionally guaranteed —usually used in plural — see also civil right.”
Islam has a doctrine of the forcible submission of others. This is the antithesis of liberty. If the central purpose of our federal government is “to provide for the common defense” then it makes sense to profile people who are likely to commit terrorism.
Big government is bureaucratic, inefficient, slow and rife with political correctness. The Department of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act will continue to plod along and miss real threats while alarming law-abiding citizens with misplaced actions or worse. Here is one of many reports:
“The federal Homeland Security Department document entitled ‘Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Environment Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment’ contains the following definition:
‘Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.’
Also targeted in the report are veterans, folks anticipating additional restrictions to their Second Amendment rights, and those concerned about the loss of U.S. sovereignty. This report implies that one harboring these sorts of views is a racist as well as a potential terrorism suspect.” Source: http://www.thelibertypapers.org/2009/04/12/homeland-security-document-targets-most-conservatives-and-libertarians-in-the-country/
How does Israel do it?
On Modifying the Electoral Process
I agree with Ralph Nader on increasing ballot access and certainly we must abolish any direct or indirect subsidies of parties and their conventions. A sample November 2012 ballot from South Florida showed 12 different candidates for US President, 4 for one US Senate seat; other state and federal elected offices had between 2 and 4 candidates. Expanding televised debates to all of the candidates is also desirable.
Mr. Nader and many others have a misplaced worry about private corporations and their influence in politics. Corporations, like unions, parties, advocacy groups and nonprofit organizations are voluntary associations and they ought to have political influence because government is now at historically maximum involvement in the lives of US citizens. Federal plus state plus local government now spends $7.4 trillion per year and imposes another $2.5 trillion in regulatory costs. If we divide this combined $9.9 trillion by the 125 million households in the US, government costs, on average, $79,000 per household every year. Automatic spending for the next 50 years of federal entitlements averages around $1 million per household. Taxpayers and their decedents are slaves.
Don’t worry about “too much money in politics,” the problem is too much politics in our money. Most of that unsustainable and rapidly growing cost is hidden from most voters. It shows up indirectly in issues ranging from low labor participation rates, low interest rates, low rates of private sector economic growth and corrosive inflation to record high rates of “food stamps,” Social Security Disability payments and other dependencies. We are indeed the giant heirs to Greek democracy, empire and collapse.
We need more entrepreneurs and fewer bureaucrats. To get there the voters must support the abolition of all subsidies, entitlements and rules that cost society more than their real benefits. We must abolish taxing earnings in all forms and abolish all government debt. Emancipate current and future taxpayers. Shrink government to one quarter its present size and lobbyists will have to get productive jobs. Then voters will protect their low tax rates instead of contending for the fruits of others’ labors and politics will attract much less attention and money.
Win Lose or Draw wrote, “I believe the government should protect our precious economic resources, but it should not be involved in moving them around or picking winners and losers like a crooked dealer in a Las Vegas casino.” This is a great simile and I will use it from now on.
About the minimum wage: If a person offers to work for $7 per hour and another agrees to buy his labor, then the buyer has committed state and federal crimes. Here government destroys private relations of production.
If a young person is hired at minimum wage in Florida, $8.05 per hour, 16.7 hours per week, her gross pay for the year is $7000. Federal taxes, “taken off the top” through withholding reduces her net (real) pay to $6470 while the employer’s payroll taxes raise his cost to $7578; the labor value to the employer is 17% higher than the value to the worker herself. “Taken off the top” is what criminal protection rackets do to people.
Abolish minimum wages, let people be free agents. Abolish taxes on earnings, replace them with simple consumption taxes. Abolish all subsidies and “transfer payments” (loot) and emancipate the taxpayers.
The USA grew from colony to the most advanced civilization before there were taxes on earnings, minimum wages and forced mass subsidies. Recently the US has fallen to #11 in the Index of Economic Freedom.
Fire the political class and let them get productive jobs.
In the next Index of Economic Freedom report after you wrote the above, the US declined to #17.
Many politicians confuse the not so flat income tax proposals with the Fair Tax. Taxes raise the costs of that which is taxed. Income and payroll taxes inhibit earnings, savings and employment. Many households are deeply in debt and it would help if they have more incentive to earn, save and invest. The Fair Tax proposal really does abolish the IRS because the states will collect the retail sales tax, keep a 0.25% processing fee, and send the rest to the US Treasury. Every year households will report members’ names, birthdays and Social Security numbers which will provide a yearly census. This will also give the federal government ongoing opportunities to determine which SS numbers are legitimate. Compared to any income, earnings and employment taxes, the progressive retail consumption tax has lower costs. It is also a major transfer of power from the federal government to the taxpayers.