I read Ralph Nader for the same reasons that I read Tom Paine. He knows what he thinks, says what he means, and his courage is a lesson for us all.” —Lewis Lapham
“Thomas Jefferson fretted that, with the passing of the founding generation, the truer patriotism that he knew as the ‘Spirit of '76' would be lost. He need not have worried. Ralph Nader has recaptured the founding faith with an inspired call for a left-right coalition of conscience on behalf of democracy, liberty, fairness and peace.” —John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation and co-author of Dollarocracy
"For more than 50 years, Nader has backed the rights of citizens against the growing influence of corporations and government leaders tied closely to those businesses...The new book offers readers broad philosophical views, as well as many detailed suggestions, about how to promote and advance a growing political alliance between the left and the right that challenges the growing alliance between Big Business and Big Government."—The Charleston Gazette
"In Unstoppable, Ralph Nader argues that there are in fact surprising areas of convergence between the left and the right... These are profound observations... Mr. Nader rails so effectively." —David Asman, Wall Street Journal
“Activist Nader sketches out places of 'convergence' where liberals and conservatives can start working together for the public good.…[he] lists reforms with which many lawmakers would agree, including breaking up too-big-to-fail banks, protecting children from commercialism and ending corporate personhood.” —Kirkus Reviews
“One of Ralph Nader's finest efforts. A bold and lucid handbook for the future.” —Patti Smith
“Conservatives and liberals both look askance at the Leviathan state and realize that promises of ‘doing good' often obscure the reality of ‘doing well' at taxpayer expense. Those looking for opportunities for bi-partisan cooperation should look at the nexus of statism and cronyism. Unstoppable shows that opposing such corruption can bring activists of the right and left together to fight side by side.” —Grover Norquist
“Ralph Nader's timely book once again makes him prescient in his insights about American politics. His against-the-grain prediction of a Left-Right alliance is not just a hope, but it is grounded in emerging evidence.” —Cornel West
“Nader at his best—original, indignant, idealistic, and on the lookout for new political alliances and possibilities. A tonic for the cynicism that's poisoning the groundwater of our democracy.” —Robert B. Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley
“No American in recent decades has done more than Ralph Nader to construct a workable alliance between the principled Right and the sincere Left to salvage our country and our national prosperity, and Unstoppable outlines his vital mission.” —Ron Unz, former publisher of The American Conservative
“Unstoppable is even-handed, erudite, practical and necessary. Nader harnesses his lifelong crusade for the public interest over the corporatist agenda into a treatise that is optimistic and patriotic. He demonstrably shows that effective Left-Right alliances aren't pipe dreams, but historic realities in need of strategic cultivation, for the sake of our future.” —Nomi Prins, author of All the Presidents' Bankers
2014-03-16
Activist Nader (The Seventeen Solutions: Bold Ideas for Our American Future, 2012, etc.) sketches out places of "convergence" where liberals and conservatives can start working together for the public good. Though increasingly rare, the author points to a number of instances when lawmakers worked in concert to support automobile airbags, prison reform, halt media concentration, and oppose taxpayer-funded stadiums and arenas. Sometimes they found success; often, they got bogged down in committee or watered down during the process. However, as Nader argues, we also must acknowledge the global corporate giants, whose "DNA commands them to control, undermine or eliminate any force, tradition, or institution that impedes their expansion of sales, profits, and executive compensation." Certainly, there is endless ammunition to support this point, and Nader trots out one infuriating illustration after another—e.g., "the Department of Defense cannot or will not make an annual audit of it sprawling $527 billion yearly budget, not counting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan"—but corporate and governmental malfeasance are givens. The issue is how to make government heed "the supremacy of civic values to which commercial pursuits must adjust." Nader lists reforms with which many lawmakers would agree, including breaking up too-big-to-fail banks, protecting children from commercialism and ending corporate personhood. However, he also delivers many examples where lawmakers are despairing, stymied by partisanship or in the corporate pocket. "Whether Democrats or Republicans are in control, corporations still receive the same wasteful or expanding assorted privileges," while corporate welfare is ever more varied and bipartisan. Nader hopes that "convergence stimulates the depth of our basic humanity and sense of justice," but it feels awfully distant from this vantage point. If the best we can do is "agree on a general policy or stance without having to also agree on the exact implications or use that would be made of a policy," that sounds like planting seeds with no hope of rain. Despite the best of motives, Nader shoots down his own case for convergence.
