Nader: strive for justice, rights

Activist calls for corporate responsibility

Renowned consumer and environmental advocate Ralph Nader condemned abuses of corporate power before an audience of 1,200 people in the keynote address for Serve Week held last night at the Michigan Theater.

Nader's speech chronicled the history of corporate power in the United States and its recent expansion into academic, religious, communication and political realms.

"Over the last 200 years, corporations have evolved into exquisite machines of privileges and immunities ... nothing is off limits anymore," Nader said, noting the University's affiliation with Nike.

Nader warned audience members of the dangers of allowing professionals such as lawyers or doctors to consider their work as "just another business."

JOHN KRAFT/Daily Ralph Nader, a renowned environmental advocate, speaks before an audience of 1,200 people yesterday in the Michigan Theater. Nader urged

"Professional standards are supposed to offer preventative measures," he said.

Because many doctors and lawyers are motivated solely by profits, they give up professional standards and their independence through corporate control, Nader said.

Many event attendees and organizers said Nader was an ideal keynote speaker for Serve Week. The event also was sponsored by University Activities Center and the School of Natural Resources.

"During Serve Week, we do a lot of hands-on, grassroots service programming," said Business junior Spencer Preis, who headed the Serve Week committee that brought Nader to campus. "We wanted a speaker who could tie together the academic and political elements of social activism."

Nader, who has dedicated his life to public service, said he views citizen action as a form of human happiness.

"Striving for justice is a way of striving for a society to give more and more people happiness - it's the great work of human beings on Earth," Nader said in an interview before the speech.

But the role of citizens has been clouded in recent years by a society that is "growing up corporate," Nader said.

The persuasiveness of corporations' influence in the everyday lives of U.S. citizens is not widely recognized. But the levels of crime, violence and regulation by corporations far exceed the publicized street crimes, violence and government regulation, Nader said.

"It's a government of the Exxons, for the General Motors and by the DuPonts," Nader said.

Nader asked the audience members to learn about the courage displayed by participants in previous social movements.

"There were no other jobs available if (the protesters) were fired," Nader said. "They put it all on the line for collective bargaining for a decent standard of living."

Besides learning history, students need to be well educated in civics so they can "enjoy civic action instead of having to be pushed into it by civic duty," Nader said.

Nader became widely recognized as the founder of the national consumer movement when he published "Unsafe at Any Speed," a best-selling book that exposed General Motor's unsafe production practices. He signed his recent book "No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America" at the theater last night.

In addition to his publications, Nader has founded more than 30 non-profit public interest organizations and campaigned for U.S. president twice, most recently in 1996 as the Green Party nominee.

Rackham first-year student Jason Weller said Nader has been one of his heroes for years.

"I've always been impressed by the things he's advocated for from consumer protection, to environmental protection, to sustainable development," Weller said.

LSA first-year student Charles Luftig said Nader addressed several important social issues, but he misrepresented many economic issues.

"Corporations do more good than (Nader) makes it out to seem," Luftig said. "He talks about the growing interdependence and globalization and how that's hurting us as citizens, but these multi-national corporations actually do improve development of third-world countries, for example."

students to be well-educated and to learn about past social movements.

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