The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 31, 1984 Page: 4 of 16
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Nader attacks corporate America's political sway
continued from page 1
information" on both the
Republican and Democratic
parties. "The Republicans," Nader
claimed, "have a low estimate of
people's intelligence which they
express by using slogans rather
than facts. I believe in giving
people respect bv rivina them
information. They will then rise to
the occasion." Nader, for
instance, cited as an example the
new Republican slogan from the
convention in Dallas, "They
alway blame America first,"
which Nader claims is meaning-
less.
The Democrats are equally
guilty of contributing to the lack of
information as well, he said,
because local Democratic civic
groups are no longer effective
organizers at the grassroots level.
John Kennedy's concept of the
"local living room tea" no longer
exists, he said.
Nader added that he believed the
Democratic party is now playing a
game that only the Republicans
are qualified to win. He pointed
out that both parties will rely
heavily on mass media,
particularly television, in their fall
campaigns, which will require
enormous sums of money to
finance. Since the Republican
party has more money available
for advertising, the Democrats
stand to get heavily outspent in this
area, Nader said. He further
commented, "The present level of
incompetence in the Democratic
party cannot be tolerated when the
stakes are this high."
Nader also warned about the
dangers of relying on an eloquent,
charismatic leader. He said,
"Charismatic leadership is very
dangerous and fragile. 1 believe in
educating the voters and then
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letting the American voters be
charismatic." Nader stated that
one unfortunate result of President
Reagan's charismatic personality
is that "Reagan has succeeded in
escaping the record of his
administration."
Nader also addressed what he
considered to be the main issues in
this election year. The real political
dividing line lies not between
people's homes and makes their
children sick, there are no
conservatives or liberals, only
victims."
Nader stated that we are all
victims of the present admini-
stration because Reagan is
protecting big business. Nader said
that the Reagan administration
considers freedom to be the abilitv
of business to make money off of
Ralph Nader
liberals and conservatives but
between average Americans and
"corporationists," he asserted.
Nader contended that large
corporations dominate the present
administration. "The Reagan
regime," Nader said,"is a bunch of
phoney conservatives." He asked
the audience, "What kind of
government allows contaminated
drinking water and toxic
substances in classrooms? This
government is soft on corporate
produced cancer."
Nader remarked that debate
over issues such as environmental
protection cannot be couched in
traditional liberal versus
conservative terms. Said Nader,
"At Love Canal, when toxic waste
seeps into the foundations of those
—M. Harshman
the American people through
corrupt practices, while he
considers freedom to be protection
from these occurrances, a state
which he described simply as "law
and order."
The activist lawyer also
chastised the Reagan admini-
stration for curtailing civil
liberties, another issue on which
liberals and conservatives can
band together. Nader, for instance,
accused the administration of
weakening the federal Freedom of
Information Act. He cited as an
example the administration's
decision to no longer publish
various pamphlets on worker
safety, at one time provided by the
federal government free of charge.
Nader also noted a dramatic
increase in the prices of other
information sources published by
the federal government. He
remarked that one seven-page
pamphlet has tripled in price and
now costs two dollars and twenty-
five cents. Nader accused the
Reagan administration of being a
"shut-out government," one that
deliberately attempts to keep the
public uninformed about public
policy issues, saying that "the
present administration preaches
liberty and freedom, but what it
gives the American people is a
repression of civil liberties and civil
rights; they have crippled the
Freedom of Information Act."
Nader said that the three values
which Reagan is known for are
"family, work, and patriotism."
Nader tried to refute the notion
that Reagan is an exemplar of
traditional familial values,
pointing out that the President has
not even seen nor spoken to his
own son in several years. He also
said that he considered Reagan to
be one of the "laziest" presidents
which the nation has ever had in
the Oval Office. Nader quipped,
"He works three-and-one-half
hours per day, he spends the rest of
the day writing long, personal
letters, taking long naps and going
for long, leisurely walks in his
garden." He added, "It seems that
many of you are probably glad he
only works three-and-one-half
hours per day — to think what
would happen if he worked more!"
Taking a jab at Reagan's
patriotism, Nader then said, "Sure
Reagan loves America — so he lets
it be ripped-off and monopolized."
Turning his attention to
students in the audience, Nader
alluded to the bill recently signed
into law which would deny federal
highway funds to states who did
not have a minimum drinking age
of 2! as one example of the
increasing restraints placed on
Americans by this administration.
He said, "Young adults can get
married, have responsibilities,
vote, even pay taxes, just like other
American citizens, but they cannot
have a beer." However, Nader said
that the law will have harmful
effects. He said, "There is nothing
worse than teaching young people
disregard for the law." He believed
that those people between the ages
of 18 and 21 will be encouraged to
break the law, because the new law
will not actually discourage
anyone to abstain from alcoholic
beverages. Nader asserted that
some of those who will no longer
be able to purchase alcohol will
simply resort to illegal drugs,
which are easier to obtain.
Speaking specifically to Rice
students at the meeting, Nader
urged the student body to become
active in the current political
debate. "The stakes in the coming
election are going to shape the
country in which Rice students are
going to live,"he said, "as students,
you should go to the core of the
issues and be concerned about
shaping America's future."
Nader admonished Rice
students "to be concerned about
the sharp increase in power of a
few corporate hands and the
dramatic shift against civil liberties
and civil rights which will
constantly haunt your future if this
dangerous trend is not halted."
"At a school the size of Rice."
said Nader, "it would only take a
handful of students who were
willing to change the present
course, to have a tremendous
impact."
Finally, speaking about the
now-extinct RiceTexPIRG organ-
ization which Nader started, he
said, "I was very upset to see that
TexPIRG became defunct. That
organization was very effective as a
consumer advocacy group."
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The dismemberment of
TexPIRG, the Texas Public
Interest Research Group chapter
on the Rice campus, ended most
conservative outcry about "liberal
bias" in student organizations. But
in a classic case of overcom-
pensation, the valid activities of
TexPIRG were cancelled, at least
temporarily, along with the
controversial. Now David Phillips,
once interim chairman of the
PIRG and now head of its
successor organization, the Rice
Student Interest Organization,
seeks to revive a number of socially
valuable programs.
According to Phillips, the 1984
election is at the top of the fall
agenda. He wrote a number of
candidates earlier this year and
expects his replies soon. "I think
we have a really good shot at
having Doggett and Gramm,"
Phillip said, noting that the strong
Republican organization on
campus would be the main
drawing point for Gramm.
"However, I think our best shot is
Beverly Andalora, the Socialist
Workers' Party candidate," he
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noted. The only problem with
getting ail three candidates
together would be Andalora's
work schedule at a General Motors
factory.
If he cannot get the candidates
to come to Rice, Phillips plans to
hold information days with staff
from the different candidates'
offices. These public events would
probably be staged in the arcade in
front of Fondren Library, he said.
Phillips considers tenant
assistance to be RSIO's second
highest priority. During
TexPIRG's heyday, it assisted
renters on and off campus, in and
out of the Rice community.
TexPIRG's demise came about
last year for two main reasons:
one, the increasing apathy of
nearly all Rice students toward
public activism; and two, the
increasing strength of the extreme
political right. Rice Republican
Greg Vint threatened a lawsuit
against Rice for funding the
"liberal" TexPIRG organization
from student taxes.
After Vint's threat, TexPIRG
did not receive its fall 1983 blanket
tax funding because of a "clerical
error."
The Rice Thresher, August 31, 1984, page 4
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Havlak, Paul. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 72, No. 3, Ed. 1 Friday, August 31, 1984, newspaper, August 31, 1984; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth245565/m1/4/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.