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Begin forwarded message: > From: "Ralph Nader" <[email protected]> > Date: May 15, 2012 10:21:39 AM PDT > To: [email protected] > Subject: Pompous Prevaricators of Power > > By Ralph Nader > > A friend who works in Congress and actually reads the Congressional Record > suggested that a collection of excerpted falsehoods by Republicans on the > floor of the House of Representatives and Senate would make compelling > evidence for the truth of economist Albert Hirschman’s book, "The Rhetoric of > Reaction" (1991). > > Professor Hirschman, a very original political economist, found throughout > American history the following three propositions were commonly used to > counter social justice efforts: > > The Perversity Thesis states government action only serves to exacerbate > the problem being addressed; > The Futility Thesis holds that attempts at social policy will simply fail > to solve the problem; > The Jeopardy Thesis argues that the cost of the proposed change or reform > is too high and will lead to disaster. > > The only people who know more about this sequential rhetoric than Mr. > Hirschman are corporate lawyers and their corporate clients’ publicists. For > over two hundred years they and their corporations have opposed virtually > every advance for better and fairer lives of the American people using > propaganda which fits into Hirschman’s frameworks. Whether it was the > abolition of slavery, child labor, and the 70 hour week, or women’s right to > vote, trade union rights, the progressive income tax, unemployment > compensation, social security and, of course, the various regulatory > standards protecting consumers, worker safety and the environment, the > arguments against them have been pretty much the same. > > As the fascinating “Cry Wolf Project” (http://crywolfproject.org/) staff > observed: “We’ve heard these all before. Perversity: if you raise the minimum > wage, you’ll increase unemployment. Futility: tobacco warning labels won’t > stop people from smoking. And Jeopardy: it’s a ‘job killer.’” > > The “Cry Wolf Project” presents verbatim quotations from the corporate bosses > from years past and then lets their words speak for themselves. Here is a > sample: > > Henry Ford II, in 1966, on long-overdue safety standards such as laminated > windshields, dual-braking systems, collapsible steering wheels and seat > belts: “Many of the temporary standards are unreasonable, arbitrary and > technically unfeasible… If we can’t meet them when they are published we’ll > have to close down.” To his credit, ten years later on national television, > Mr. Ford recognized that due to federal regulations, cars were safer, more > efficient and less polluting. > > His fiery vice-president, Lee Iacocca, said in 1970 that The Clean Air Act > “could prevent continued production of automobiles… and is a threat to the > entire American economy and to every person in America.” Mr. Iacocca did > recant his opposition to air bags as head of Chrysler in a full page ad > headlined “Who Says You Can’t Teach an Old Dog New Tricks?” > > Other corporate barons were more intransigent. Reacting to a law that > established the federal minimum wage and ended child labor, a spokesman for > the manufacturing industry in 1938 unleashed this volley: “The Fair Labor > Standards Act constitutes a step in the direction of communism, bolshevism, > fascism and Nazism.” > > Social Security received a broadside from the Chairman of the Board of Chase > National Bank. In 1936, top brass banker, Winthrop W. Aldrich, called it a > “grave menace to the future security of the country as whole and to the > security of the very people it is designed to protect.” > > His down the line executive successor, the haughty James Dimon has been > spouting cataclysmic claims about the Dodd-Frank reforms that are modestly > designed to avoid another multi-trillion dollar Wall Street bailout by > Washington. Haughty, that is, until last week when Mr. Dimon, CEO of J.P. > Morgan Chase & Co. revealed at least a two billion dollar gambling bet that > his company lost in the high-flying business of complex derivatives trading > linked to corporate debt. > > What a cruel irony. Mr. Dimon’s bank and half a dozen other giant banks are > now corporate welfare kings deemed “too big to fail” (as well as too big to > be taxed fairly). Unfortunately, social security recipients and other tax > payers are still the ones who will pay for any future bailouts. This is what > America has been reduced to by the multinational casino capitalists who long > ago abandoned any allegiance or patriotism toward the country that bred them > into present day giants. > > Outlandish assertions are not restricted to members of Congress or the > corporate world. Ronald Reagan was a jovial-genius at nutty declarations. As > when he told reporters that submarine launched nuclear missiles can be > recalled or that approximately 80% of our air pollution stems from > vegetation. So prolific was the former Hollywood actor that Mark Green > collected Reagan’s pronouncements in a classic 173 page paperback titled > “Reagan’s Reign of Error” (1987). > > With the velocity of modern communications, media and the Internet, who can > keep up with the separation of facts and truth from lies, propaganda and what > is now called “magical thinking?” Far more people have become rich and famous > for telling lies and falsehoods than people who have a habit of telling the > truth and reciting facts. The former get promoted, host radio shows, get > large advances on books and get elected to office. > > In 2002, the ultra-corporatist Senator Saxby Chambliss defeated incumbent > Georgia Senator Max Cleland, whose legs were amputated as a result of > injuries he suffered in the Vietnam War, with ads showing a photo of Cleland > along with photos of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, by way of > questioning Cleland’s patriotism. Fellow Republican, Senator John McCain, > called Saxby’s ads in 2002 “worse than disgraceful, reprehensible.” In 2008, > Saxby was re-elected. > > The forces of accountability for what public personages exclaim have to come > from a more demanding citizenry. People have to punish these charlatans, who > think they can distract, degrade or fool the public. Don’t buy their garbage > or let the prevaricators garner your votes. > > A handy question people can always ask is “What’s your evidence?” That starts > an entirely new dialogue, doesn’t it? > > END. > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > Tell your friends to visit http://www.nader.org/ and sign up for Ralph > Nader's weekly column. > > Just click on the link that says: Sign up for Ralph Nader's Column > or click on the following link: > > http://nader.org/index.php?/categories/9-Sign-up-for-Ralph-Naders-Column > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] >
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