Green Party presidential candidate and “consumer advocate” Ralph Nader wants to “reform” America.
In the past Nader has called for “free” education, advocated “free”, and “universal” healthcare, and attacked corporations. Evaluating Nader’s proposed “reform” of America requires a understanding the moral implications of his candidacy. Indeed, the technical details are unimportant in light of Nader’s moral stance.
Ralph Nader believes that everyone is entitled to free healthcare and free education. At a glance, many people think those would be great things too. “Free” healthcare and education is a sham, however, because they aren’t “free” at all — someone has to foot the bill. Nader would pay for these programs by imposing higher taxes on the productive members of society. According to his understanding, the wealth of upper- and middle-class families is not rightfully their own.
Thus, according to Nader’s ideology, those who work the hardest should be taxed — and therefore punished — the most, while those who do the least receive the biggest handouts. This collectivist philosophy that subordinates the individual to the “commonwealth” is morally the same one that built and destroyed the Soviet Union.
Nader’s promotes his ideas as “noble” and “humanitarian”. When they are broken down to essentials, they amount to an annihilation of personal freedom and individual responsibility, replacing them with “social duties” and “social responsibility.”
Nader is most famous for his attacks on corporations and capitalism. Because of his collectivist ideas, Nader believes that the American people are just a mass of automatons being “exploited” and “manipulated” by companies such as McDonalds, Wal-Mart, Disney, and Microsoft. He does not believe that individuals choose their economic relationships with these companies. Instead, he argues that they involve some type of force or compulsion. In short, he equates the coercive power of government with the economic power of the private sector.
If you think he’s right, try two things. For a whole year, don’t send your money to the IRS, and don’t send your money to McDonald’s. Don’t pay your taxes and don’t buy a Big Mac. See which organization — the government or McDonald’s — comes after you with guns, threatening to put you in jail, seize your property, or even take your life, if you don’t give them your money.
Ralph Nader wants more government intervention in the economy and our daily lives. His vehement anti-capitalism and contempt for free-markets, grows out of his disdain for free minds. The free-market and the free-mind are corollaries, they cannot exist without each other. If Nader destroys the free-market, he destroys the creative spirit, mind, and soul of everyone.
The freedom to create values, to have consumer choice, and to have a private sector would all be controlled and regulated by the government under Nader’s vision. Ralph Nader and the Green Party promise reform, but a reform to what? Authoritarianism. The color of dictatorship and collectivism is no longer Red under the Bolsheviks, it is Green under Nader.
