Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State

205 Pages·2014·1.4 MB·English

by  Ralph Nader

PRAISE FOR UNSTOPPABLE
“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 predictions 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
“Even-handed, erudite, practical, and necessary, Unstoppable is Ralph Nader’s
most broadly accessible book yet. Harnessing his lifelong crusade for the public
interest over the corporatist agenda, Nader’s convergence manifesto wisely calls
for Left-Right alliances with similar goals to shun abstract labels and unite for
the common good. Nader’s treatise 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
“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 coauthor of
Dollarocracy
UNSTOPPABLE
ALSO BY RALPH NADER: Told You So:
The Big Book of Weekly Columns
Getting Steamed to Overcome Corporatism
The Seventeen Solutions:
Bold Ideas for Our American Future
“Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!”
(political fiction)
The Seventeen Traditions:
Lessons from an American Childhood
The Good Fight:
Declare Your Independence and Close the Democracy Gap
In Pursuit of Justice:
Collected Writings 2000–2003
Crashing the Party:
Taking on the Corporate Government in an Age of Surrender
No Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the
Perversion of Justice in America
(with Wesley J. Smith)
Winning the Insurance Game
(with Wesley J. Smith)
Unsafe at Any Speed:
The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile

Copyright © 2014 by Ralph Nader.
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Designed by Trish Wilkinson Set in 11.75 point Goudy Old Style Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data Nader, Ralph.
Unstoppable : the emerging left-right alliance to dismantle the corporate state / Ralph Nader.
pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-56858-455-3 (e-book) 1. Business and politics—United States. 2. Corporations—
Political activity—United States. 3. Right and left (Political science)—United States. 4. Democracy—
United States. I. Title.
JK467.N34 2014
322'.30973—dc23
2014001991
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory and writings of Jonathan Rowe—insightful skeptic, optimist,
believer in the potential of Left-Right coalitions, and a practitioner of what he
preached
and to John Richard, networker and extraordinary advisor to civic reformers.
Contents Introduction
1 Convergence: The Sporadic Coming Together of Right and Left Against
Corporatists
2 Conservatism’s Authority Figures: Principles Versus Dogmas
3 Hands Reach Across the Aisle, Though Often Slapped Back by Wily
Corporatists
4 Twenty-Five Proposed Redirections and Reforms Through Convergent
Action
5 Getting to the Actions: Convergences Ahoy!
6 Obstacles to Convergence and How to Overcome Them
7 Who Owns America? A Light from the 1930s Illuminates Now
8 Common Ground for Common and Uncommon Causes, Found in the
Thoughts of Much-Cited but Little-Read Conservative Icons
9 What of the Liberals? And Populist Conservatives?
10 Dear Billionaire
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes