Posts tagged “only the super-rich can save us”
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Economist: Ralph Nader’s “Only The Super-rich Can Save Us!” inspired the Buffett-Gates “giving pledge” initiative
June 18, 2010
From the June 17 edition of the Economist:
One of the unlikeliest books of last year was “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!”, a fictional account by Ralph Nader, a veteran left-wing campaigner, of a movement of billionaires led by Warren Buffett and featuring, among others, Ted Turner, George Soros and Barry Diller, who use their fortunes to clean up America. This was not, as you might suppose, a satire but what Mr Nader called “an exercise in practical Utopianism”. He even met Mr Buffett to urge him to take up the challenge.
Perhaps the Sage of Omaha, as Mr Buffett is known, was listening. On June 16th, with Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda, he launched a campaign to persuade America’s billionaires to give away much of their fortunes. They are invited to take the “giving pledge” by writing a public letter promising to donate 50% or more of their wealth. Mr Buffett himself has written the first, which is published on a website, givingpledge.org. He says he will ultimately give away 99% of his wealth, most of which he has already pledged to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Although the letters will not be legally binding, they are intended to create a moral obligation which will be reinforced by peer pressure from others who take the pledge—a bit like members of Alcoholics Anonymous who promise to stay off the booze.
As we said in our press materials for the book: Picture it, and it can happen.
Tags: articles, bill gates, current events, economist, fiction, giving pledge, melinda gates, only the super-rich can save us, philanthropy, ralph nader, warren buffett
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Ralph Nader at Seattle Town Hall
May 7, 2010
May 7, 2010, Town Hall, Seattle: 1119 8th Avenue. Seattle, WA 98101-2738
Tags: book signing, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader, seattle, town hall seattle
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Ralph Nader’s fiction starts to become reality
May 4, 2010
There are signs that some super-rich are revolting against their “wealth fraternity.” Last fall, mega-billionaire, Warren Buffett, traveled to Washington to meet with Democratic Senators and urge them to raise taxes on the wealthy like him. He pointedly said he pays at a lower rate than his secretary.
The liberal Senators were either bemused, or moved away from him as if he had a contagious disease. Buffett is not deterred. Earlier in this decade, he joined with a thousand other rich Americans led by lawyer William Gates, Sr. and Chuck Collins (founder of United For a Fair Economy) to successfully block the repeal of the estate tax (applied to 2% of wealthier decedents) by a Republican-controlled Congress. —Ralph Nader
Tags: articles, current events, fiction, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader, warren buffett
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Ralph Nader at Hudson’s Bookstore, Omaha Airport
May 2, 2010
May 2, 2010, 10:00am-5:00pm, Hudson’s Bookstore in the Omaha Airport
Tags: book signing, hudsons bookstore in the omaha airport, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at various locations
May 1, 2010
May 1, 2010:
9:00am -4:00pm Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Qwest Center 455 N 10th St, Omaha, Nebraska, 68102-1151Tags: berkshire hathaway meeting, mcfosters natural kind cafe, oakview mall barnes and noble, omaha nebraska, only the super-rich can save us, qwest center, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader in Omaha
April 30, 2010
April 30, 2010, 5:00pm-6:00pm at Hudson’s Bookstore in the Omaha Airport
7:30pm-10:00pm, Dairy Queen, 404 N. 114th St. OmahaTags: dairy queen omaha, hudsons bookstore, omaha airport, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at Lawrence University
April 25, 2010
April 25, 2010, 7:30pm at The Lawrence Memorial Chapel, Lawrence University, 711 E. Boldt Way, Appleton, WI 54911
Tags: appleton, book signing, lawrence memorial chapel, lawrence university, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at Milwaukee Public Library
April 25, 2010
April 25, 2010, 1:30 pm-2:30 pm, Milwaukee Public Library: 814 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53233
Tags: book signing, milwaukee public library, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader to speak at Maryland Institute College of Art
April 20, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 7pm, Brown Center: Falvey Hall, 1301 W. Mount Royal Ave, Maryland Institute College of Art. For more details, see here.
Tags: current events, fiction, maryland institute college of art, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Chris Hedges: How The Corporations Broke Ralph Nader And America, Too
April 6, 2010
Reblogged from TruthDig, here’s Chris Hedges on Ralph Nader, on citizen activism, and on the powerful pushback by corporations against the progressive movement in America from the late 1970s to today:
Ralph Nader’s descent from being one of the most respected and powerful men in the country to being a pariah illustrates the totality of the corporate coup. Nader’s marginalization was not accidental. It was orchestrated to thwart the legislation that Nader and his allies—who once consisted of many in the Democratic Party—enacted to prevent corporate abuse, fraud and control. He was targeted to be destroyed. And by the time he was shut out of the political process with the election of Ronald Reagan, the government was in the hands of corporations. Nader’s fate mirrors our own.
Tags: articles, chris hedges, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader, truthdig
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Ralph Nader at Vanderbilt University
March 30, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010, 8 p.m. in the Langford Auditorium at Vanderbuilt University, 110 21st Avenue, S, Nashville, TN 37203
Tags: nashville, only the super-rich can save us, public lecture, ralph nader, vanderbuilt university
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Ralph Nader at Jacksonville State University
March 29, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010, 7 p.m., Leone Cole Auditorium, Jacksonville State University, 700 Pelham Road North, Jacksonville, AL. For more info, visit: http://www.jsunews.com/news/?newsID=668
Tags: book signing, jacksonville, jacksonville state university, leone cole auditorium, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at Florida A & M University
March 28, 2010
Sunday, March 28, 2010, 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM, Jake Gaither Gymnasium Florida A & M University, 1500 Wahnish Way Tallahassee, Florida 32307
Tags: book signing, florida A & M university. tallahassee, jake gaither gymnasium, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader on the health care reform bill
March 23, 2010
The health insurance legislation is a major political symbol wrapped around a shredded substance. It does not provide coverage that is universal, comprehensive or affordable. It is a remnant even of its own initially compromised self — bereft of any public option, any safeguard for states desiring a single payer approach, any adequate antitrust protections, any shift of power toward consumers to defend themselves, any regulation of insurance prices, any authority for Uncle Sam to bargain with drug companies, and any re-importation of lower-priced drugs. — Ralph Nader, in the New York Times
Tags: health care reform, new york times, obama, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in NYC
March 17, 2010
On March 12, 2010, Ralph Nader spoke at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in NYC: on literacy and its importance, on the indicators of a society in decline, on the illusion of American exceptionalism, and on going back to the Preamble: We the People, not We the Corporations. Check out the footage below.
Tags: new york city, only the super-rich can save us, q&a, ralph nader, unitarian church of all souls, videos
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Ralph Nader at the Unitarian Church of All Souls
March 12, 2010
March 12, 2010, 7 p.m. at the Unitarian Church of All Souls (In the Church Sanctuary):
1157 Lexington Avenue at East 80th Street, New York, NYTags: book event, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader, the unitarian church of all souls
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Ralph Nader at Montgomery College: Can Someone Super-Rich Save Us?
March 9, 2010
From February 2010, here’s Ralph Nader at Montgomery College speaking about his first work of fiction, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us, about the future of activism, and about the power of imagination.
Tags: current events, fiction, interviews, montgomery college, only the super-rich can save us, q&a, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader reading at Oblong Books
February 27, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010, Oblong Books and Music, 26 Main St. in Millerton, NY at 3 p.m., Oblong Rhinebeck, 6422 Montgomery St., Rhinebeck, NY at 7:30 p.m. For more information see the Oblong Books website.
Tags: fiction, new york state, oblong books, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader, readings
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Ralph Nader’s King Obesity
February 18, 2010
King Obesity sat grandly on a huge hassock atop a throne composed of solidified animal fat surveying his domain. The last thirty years have been bullish for Obesity, during which the number of seriously overweight children in America tripled. Eating fat, sugary and salty food while sitting for hours daily looking at video screens, being bused to and from school, and not having to bother with physical education, millions of lads and lassies were following orders.
An agitated messenger arrived in the throne room, breathing heavily from his travels. “Oh, my liege, Obesity, I have disturbing news. Michelle Obama, the First Lady, is launching a nationwide project she calls ‘Let’s Move’ to combat childhood obesity and shed billions of pounds of your stuff. She claims that success would reduce all types of diseases now and later, save on medical costs, as well as raise the energy level and self-esteem of millions of children. Here, Your Eminence, are the complete details of her plan.”
Obesity was a hard person to agitate. He had heard of these campaigns before.
Tags: current events, eurasia review, fiction, obesity, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Harvard Law Record on Nader’s super-rich: “These 17 and some of their friends may indeed be the most realistic hope we have”
February 12, 2010
From the Harvard Law Record article by former “Nader’s Raider” Robert Fellmath, regarding Ralph Nader’s “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!”:
The fun of reading this book is in joining the author’s fantasy, but punctuating it with our own tactics—what we would do to correct the world’s deviant path had we the resources and visibility of these 17. The characters in this book seek structural and leveraged change—advocacy for public budgets and laws and international agreements—that properly embody more than the exploitation of narrow self-interest. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has radically shifted ground and allowed (contrary to the judgment of the people’s democratic institutions) many billions of corporate and union money to directly influence elections, those interests with capital investment in current profitable enterprise—whether it be mining the seas, polluting the earth, or collecting medical benefits for power wheelchairs and Cialis on the backs of their grandchildren—will increasingly lock-in their self-protection and their imposed external burden on others. Their free ride, notwithstanding future costs, will be further and irretrievably calcified into public law.
Tags: articles, fiction, harvard law record, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader, reviews, robert fellmath
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Ralph Nader interviewed by Cindy Sheehan
December 9, 2009
On November 30, 2009, Ralph Nader appeared on Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox to talk about government, materialism, and “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!” Listen to the interview on YouTube below.
Tags: cindy sheehan, current events, fiction, only the super-rich can save us, radio, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at Norfolk Public Library in Connecticut
November 28, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 11am, Norfolk Public Library, 9 Greenwoods Rd. E, Norfolk, CT 06058.
Tags: connecticut, fiction, norfolk public library, only the super-rich can save us, politics/government, q&a, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at First Congregational Church of Stockbridge
November 28, 2009
November 28, 7pm, First Congregational Church of Stockbridge, Main Street, Rte 102, west of the Red Lion Inn, Stockbridge, MA in the Berkshire Hills. Talk, Q&A, book signing. Admission free; donations in BerkShares welcomed. Co-sponsored by: E. F. Schumacher Society, The Orion Society, The Bookloft.
Tags: current events, fiction, first congregational church of stockbridge, massachussetts, only the super-rich can save us, q&a, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader interviewed in the Miami Herald
November 17, 2009
On Saturday, November 14, an interview with Ralph Nader appeared in the Miami Herald. Among the topics covered were Nader’s first work of fiction, what Nader feels his legacy in America will one day be, and an answer to the question begged by the book’s title:
Herald: Can America save itself without the super-rich, in other words, without the kind of power money buys in our society?
Nader: … What [the super-rich] provide are resources, a catalyst and a shoehorn and the ability to provide opportunities for tens of thousands of people to improve their country. You can’t have organizers unless they can feed themselves; you can’t have them go around the country without transportation, communication, housing, etc. What the super-rich in this book do is fill that last equation which is money and media.
Tags: fiction, interviews, miami herald, only the super-rich can save us, ralph nader
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Ralph Nader at Miami Book Fair International
November 17, 2009
On November 15, 2009, Ralph Nader appeared at the Miami Book Fair International to talk about “Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!”, and about the power and uses of imagination. Take a look at a clip of his appearance on C-SPAN’s BookTV at the C-SPAN site.
Tags: current events, fiction, miami, miami book fair international, only the super-rich can save us, q&a, ralph nader, videos
“only the super-rich can save us” Posts
- Jun 18, Economist: Ralph Nader’s “Only The Super-rich Can Save Us!” inspired the Buffett-Gates “giving pledge” initiative
- May 7, Ralph Nader at Seattle Town Hall
- May 4, Ralph Nader’s fiction starts to become reality
- May 2, Ralph Nader at Hudson’s Bookstore, Omaha Airport
- Apr 30, Ralph Nader in Omaha
- Apr 25, Ralph Nader at Lawrence University
- Apr 25, Ralph Nader at Milwaukee Public Library
- Apr 20, Ralph Nader to speak at Maryland Institute College of Art
- Apr 6, Chris Hedges: How The Corporations Broke Ralph Nader And America, Too
- Mar 30, Ralph Nader at Vanderbilt University
- Mar 29, Ralph Nader at Jacksonville State University
- Mar 28, Ralph Nader at Florida A & M University
- Mar 23, Ralph Nader on the health care reform bill
- Mar 17, Ralph Nader at the Unitarian Church of All Souls in NYC
- Mar 12, Ralph Nader at the Unitarian Church of All Souls
- Mar 9, Ralph Nader at Montgomery College: Can Someone Super-Rich Save Us?
- Feb 27, Ralph Nader reading at Oblong Books
- Feb 18, Ralph Nader’s King Obesity
- Feb 12, Harvard Law Record on Nader’s super-rich: “These 17 and some of their friends may indeed be the most realistic hope we have”
- Dec 9, Ralph Nader interviewed by Cindy Sheehan
- Nov 28, Ralph Nader at Norfolk Public Library in Connecticut
- Nov 28, Ralph Nader at First Congregational Church of Stockbridge
- Nov 17, Ralph Nader interviewed in the Miami Herald
- Nov 17, Ralph Nader at Miami Book Fair International
