[Marxism] Ralph Nader speaking democracy to power

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

NPR excerpts before the election: The audio is at
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4125903

We are broadcasting excerpts from the candidates’ stump speeches.
Today we hear from Ralph Nader, who is running as an independent 
candidate on more than 30 state ballots. He spoke Saturday in New York 
City about the American political system.
______

Look what the two parties have done. They are now carving up the 
country into redistricting districts where there is only one dominant 
party.

Just imagine. Chile has 9 parties, Norway has 10 parties, even Canada 
has over 5 functioning parties. But in this country, we have 2 parties 
that carve up the districts for state legislatures and for congress, so 
there’s only one party—the incumbent party. It’s either Democrat or 
Republican.

And so people go to the polls and are told that it’s an election.

There is no election--without a selection. There’s only a coronation.

Out of 435 seats in the House of Representatives in 2002 up for 
election, only 4 lost and one of them was Gary Condit.* [laughter] Only 
4--the lowest in American history.

It’s really just a coronation every two years. And at the state 
legislative level, 40 percent of the state lawmakers running in 
November will run without any opposition at all. You simply cannot have 
competitive politics with a 2-party electoral dictatorship carving the 
country up more and more every year into one-party monopoly districts.

It’s over. Let’s get rid of the myth here. Our democracy has been taken 
from us, incrementally, without vociferousness, but definitively. We’ve 
lost it. And we have to recover it. And that’s the challenge before us.

And before we go through the list of the deprivations and the 
devastation, and the denials of justice--and it’s always important to 
remind us of all of these--we have to ask ourselves: are we being 
flattered, and fooled and flummoxed?

Half of us don’t even bother to vote. The political system doesn’t 
answer to these people. What is in it for them to vote? They go and 
they vote. Nothing changes in their lives.

What’s important to ask of ourselves is, how much time do we put on our 
civic duties and responsibilities, how much time do we put on our 
political activities? And let me tell you. Roll it all up across 280 
million Americans, and you have far fewer hours engaged in the 
political system from an independent standpoint than the number of 
people who watch birds.
___________
*[Chandra] Levy, 24, was last seen in Washington this past spring, 
shortly after completing an internship. Police have said they've found 
no evidence of wrongdoing and have never named any suspects in the 
case. Still, [California Representative Gary] Condit, 53, emerged as a 
pivotal figure because of his relationship with Levy. He has refused to 
publicly describe it, but police sources say the married congressman 
and grandfather admitted to an affair with the young woman during an 
interview with investigators. Her family has charged that Condit 
impeded the investigation by initially holding back details about the 
relationship. [CNN Internet article, March 6, 2002]


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