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Sept/Oct 2000 issue (#47)
"We can have a democratic society or we can have the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. We cannot have both." -- Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis (1941)
Whether Brandeis was commenting on the political climate of his time or predicting the future, his words have never been more meaningful as the 2000 presidential election approaches. The interests of the Democratic and Republican parties have merged as a handful of giant corporations fund their campaigns, and, sadly, the voting public has either become increasingly resigned to its narrow presidential "choice" or is turning away from the political process altogether. Record numbers of eligible voters avoided the ballot box in 1996-- a majority of them under the age of 35-- and that number will likely increase in the November election.
If we have any hope of reversing this distressing trend, isn't it time we attempted to move beyond using the "lesser of two evils," single-issue approach to choosing the corporate-funded special-interest presidential candidates we're subjected to every four years? Ultimately, if half of the 55 percent of the non-voting public could coalesce around a third party candidate who actually represents their interests-- like Green Party candidate Ralph Nader, for example-- they could put him in power, drive a wedge in the Democratic/Republican plutocracy, and make their neglected concerns part of the congressional agenda.
On his web site (www.votenader.org), Nader explains that in the United States, the gap between rich and poor is now the largest in the industrialized world. The net worth of Microsoft CEO Bill Gates equals the combined wealth of the poorest 120 million Americans. The ratio of income between a CEO and the lowest paid worker in the same company has increased from 12 to 1 in 1940 to 415 to 1 in 2000. The consequence of concentrated wealth allows corporations to influence government-- through large campaign donations (in equal amounts to the Democratic and Republican parties) and congressional lobbying-- in a manner that ordinary citizens cannot. Government returns the favor in the form of corporate welfare, generous "free trade" laws and a collective silence on issues that adversely affect corporate profit. An incomplete list of these issues is listed below.
If you share many of the concerns listed below, a vote for the Green Party is a chance to make them a government priority. Eight percent of the vote qualifies the Green Party for federal matching funds-- approximately $12.5 million-- that would go a long way toward spreading the party message. If half the eligible non-voters chose Nader/LaDuke, they would win the 2000 election. The cited statistics as well as more detailed Green Party proposals are available on the web site www.votenader.org.
1) The lack of universal health care. Approximately 47 million citizens are without any form of health care. Nader/LaDuke propose a single-payer system similar to Canada's to extend coverage to all citizens.
2) The increase in the taxpayer-financed Pentagon budget. The budget is currently $300 billion and rising. LaDuke calls for a "demilitarization of American foreign policy" that includes shutting down the School of the Americas and shutting off military aid to Columbia, Israel and Egypt.
3) The increasing death toll in Iraq due to a decade of economic sanctions and bombing, and the continued economic embargo on Cuba. According to UNICEF, approximately 4,000 children are dying per month in Iraq as a result of UN sanctions, a total of over 500,000 since the Gulf War ended.
4) The increase in corporate welfare (in the form of tax breaks and government subsidies to large corporations). Nader estimates government giveaways to cost taxpayers $200 billion annually.
5) The lack of a "living" wage for a large portion of the working public. An estimated 47 million people, or one third of the workforce, makes less than $10 an hour, works 160 additional hours each year, and makes less in inflation adjusted dollars than in 1973. Nader/LaDuke propose a significant increase in the minimum wage.
6) The two-million -and-growing prison population, a majority of which are incarcerated for petty drug offenses. The "War on Drugs" is really a euphemism for a war on civil rights.
7) The exploitation of foreign markets by U.S. multinationals via the "relaxing" of trade barriers between countries and the continued corporate-driven destruction of the environment. Nader/LaDuke propose a humanitarian role for the WTO and IMF as well as potent labor, consumer protection and environmental treaties.
8) The disarray of organized labor in both the U.S. and abroad. Private sector unionization is now less than ten percent of the workforce, a trend that is in part responsible for the decline in wages and lack of health care
9) The elimination of viable political voices via concentrated media ownership, and the lack of a public forum for discussion of popular concerns. Due to the 1996 Telecom Act, six corporate conglomerates control most of the major news media. There are no restrictions on monopoly ownership of radio stations and newspapers.
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