Ralph Nader is a former American presidential nominee, who some claimed was a deciding factor in the 2000 election, and was named by Time magazine as one of the top one-hundred most influential people. Throughout his career, he has been a lawyer, teacher, activist, and writer, advocating for and helping produce a cleaner environment, a safer workplace, and an overall healthier society. He is one of the world’s leading consumer, political, and environmental advocates. He received his undergraduate degree from Princeton, followed by an LLB from Harvard Law. During the 1960s, he taught history and government at the University of Hartford and Princeton University. He is the founder of numerous advocacy organizations, including the Public Interest Research Group, the Disability Rights Center, and the Project for Corporate Responsibility. He is the author of Corporate Power in America (1977), Only the Super Rich Can Save Us! (2009), and Unstoppable: The Emerging Left–Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State (2014), as well as Animal Envy: A Fable (2016), a collection of fiction.
Nader’s lecture focused on themes of youth empowerment, responsible citizenry, pollution and consumer protection. His resounding message was that the individual must be proactive in making change. He recommended that students become activists, noting that the university was a natural place for social, economic, and political movements to start. His talk also addressed the interactions between corporations, the government, and citizens, and his concept of the “corporatized citizen” who values consumption over political action. He argued that the most important work in society is done by citizens rather than the government or corporations, and therefore citizens should strive to make change for themselves. Nader also discussed his own origins as an activist in the process of researching his 1965 book, Unsafe at Any Speed, which contributed to a new safety legislation in the automotive industry.
An audience of over 300 attended his lecture.