1980s NEWS
INTERVIEW CONTINUES:
Robert Lipsyte 18:30
You're obviously not relying on on the media, even public television to get the message across.
Ralph Nader 18:35
Oh, yes, we are because one of the things that community advocate, Ellen Thomas did in that small town in Connecticut was Council, the local public access channel where volunteers were there. They didn't know what the cable system had obligated to provide by way of, of facilities and equipment. And she got them underway. And now they are showing the city council meetings of selectmen meeting as they're called other board meetings, and they are covering the town. So this is an example Mr. Lipsyte of what I am talking about. We had our 20th anniversary of Nader's Raiders a few weeks ago. And instead of having a whole day agenda, on the same kind of problems we read about in the media, air pollution, pesticides hunger, we developed what we called an empowerment agenda. And these are the issues that for example, the establishment of group buying by consumers so they increase their bargaining power visa Vee insurance companies, pharmaceutical firms, utility companies fuel buying consumer groups, and also develop an expertise through their full time staff to redress the imbalance of power between corporations and consumers on momentous economic issues.
Robert Lipsyte 19:57
Now, I noticed that in in all your list you haven't thrown up against the wall, those issues, crack, AIDS homeless, which generally come up with people say what's going to happen in the 90s.
Ralph Nader 20:11
Let me give you an indication of how they're related. One of the things we want to do is start a youth citizen court. Older kids teaching younger kids a proven success in areas where it's been tried around the country. Why isn't it tried more often, we want to try to implement Professor Edgar Kahn's idea which he calls service credit. So the time dollar, where he gets communities establishing a computer bank, and all these millions of Americans who have no money, but they do have time. And if they spend that time, servicing others, they can bank that time in a computer, run by a community group. And then they can get people servicing them. When they need it. For example, older people tutoring younger people, younger people cutting older people's grass, or shoveling your sidewalk, or younger people helping middle class middle aged people, and they transport older people. This is called the service credit time dollar. It's now operating in 10. States programs in 10 states led by Miami, which is generating 8000 hours a month, and people who were for alone in their community because they didn't have money, they had plenty of time, I know actually encouraging others to generate service credit, bank him in the computer, and then get help where they need it. And in return, it's an alternative form of currency. That's why he calls it the time dollar. Now you see how that binds the community and the neighborhood together, no bureaucracy, no tax money needed. But that's the kind of empowerment agenda that we need, including political action committee or campaign finance reform,
Robert Lipsyte 21:53
and you think things like that will have impact on age and crack and homelessness.
Ralph Nader 21:59
Of course, one of the reasons why there's such desolation at the local level in poor areas is because the government programs haven't worked. There was a study out in Northwestern University recently, which said that 780,000 people receiving government services and welfare in Cook County, Illinois $4.8 billion is going to those people every year. If they all got it in cash, each family would have $18,000 a year which is above the poverty level. Instead 80% of that money never reaches those people. It is absorbed by the welfare bureaucracy and all the other ways to drain off the taxpayers dollar miss you know,
Robert Lipsyte 22:40
Mr. Nayar, let me let me ask you this, what so much of what you're saying is, is really personal empowerment, but there's always will be larger forces. And and the things that we've seen recently is the continuing power of the multinational corporation, the increased power of Japan, glass, nose, I mean, these are things that will have impact on the 90s.