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INTEGRITY CMYK Page: A18
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Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
83 has championed consumer rights environmental protection and public accountability in his decades of activism Nader’s advocacy has led to the enactment of several major pieces of legislation including the Freedom of Information Act He has founded several watchdog groups and has run for president of the United States We didn’t start with any money or power Just knowledge and action People would say to my mother “Mrs Nader
you’re raising four children How do you find time to be active in the community?” And she said “There’s really not that sharp a a a a a line is is there? If the the community isn’t good what kind of environment is it to raise a a a a a a family?” That was part of growing up “You like to be free Ralph?” “Yeah ” ” “Okay well you have to be responsible for that ” The other side of freedom is citizen responsibility You’ve got to to go go to to town meetings You’ve got to to vote sensibly My parents used to to take us us to to the town meetings so we could watch and listen My dad would say “If you don’t use your your rights you you you lose your your rights ” That is incredibly profound Because that’s what’s happened to our society in the last 40 years The best example is my mother Our town of Winsted Connecticut was destroyed twice — 1938 and 1955 — by huge floods because the channel for the Mad River was narrow and it overflowed In ’55 Hurricane Diane took half of Main Street down with it: buildings car car dealers cars bobbing Eleven people died And my mother got fed up Because people in town would be talking about a a a a dry dam but they’d just talk So one day Senator Prescott Bush grandfather of George
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