Page 86 - Encyclopedia Of World History

436 berkshire encyclopedia of world history

Consumer Movement:
Ralph Nader

Ralph Nader has become one of the most contro-
versial figures in U.S. politics.As a law student at styles. Religious objections often surfaced, and many
Harvard in 1958, Nader penned “The Safe Car societies devoted surpluses to glittering religious expen-
You Can’t Buy,” an article that was published in ditures more than personal consumerism. Many societies
the Nation, a prominent journal. He wrote: periodically enforced sumptuary laws, which punished
displays that were nontraditional or that threatened
It is clear Detroit today is designing automobiles
established social boundaries. Leading consumerists in
for style, cost, performance, and calculated obso-
China were sometimes actually put to death by a gov-
lescence, but not—despite the 5,000,000 report-
ernment intent on maintaining traditional styles and val-
ed accidents, nearly 40,000 fatalities, 110,000
ues. Consumerism, in other words, was not an automatic
permanent disabilities, and 1,500,000 injuries
result of wealth.
yearly—for safety.
Nader soon moved on to Washington, where
Modern Consumerism
he began his career as a consumer advocate. In
Until fairly recently, historians treated consumerism (if
1965, he published Unsafe at Any Speed, a best-
they paid any attention at all to what was sometimes seen
selling indictment of the auto industry and its
as a frivolous topic) as a result of industrialization.As out-
poor safety standards. Largely because of his in-
put and living standards rose, people were encouraged to
fluence, Congress passed the 1966 National Traf-
use surplus to buy new goods. While this relationship
fic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Nader was also
retains partial validity, major discoveries in the past two
influential in the passage of 1967’s Wholesome
decades locate the effective origins of fully modern con-
Meat Act, which called for federal inspections of
sumerism in Western Europe in the seventeenth and
beef and poultry and imposed standards on
eighteenth centuries. A craze for buying new things and
slaughterhouses, as well as the Clean Air Act and
keeping up with the latest fashions spread widely in West-
the Freedom of Information Act, which allows cit-
ern society, affecting urban populations particularly but
izens access to much of the information held by
creeping into the countryside as well—as with domestic
the U.S. government.
manufacturing workers in eighteenth-century Switzer-
Nader has not been alone in his fight. Nader’s
land who defied village customs by indulging in urban-
principles caught on, and soon activists, known
style clothing. Massive markets for secondhand clothing
as “Nader’s Raiders,” joined his modern con-
developed, for people who had the consumerist urge but
sumer movement.They continue to press for pro-
not the money to follow through easily, and thefts of fash-
tections for workers, taxpayers, and the environ-
ionable clothing rose as well. Not only clothing but
ment and fought to stem the power of large
household furnishings and tableware reflected growing
corporations. Though no doubt controversial,
consumerist interests, and there were also some intrigu-
Nader has been a strong force for social change
ing sidelights, like the frenzy for tulip buying (including
that benefits millions of citizens.
paintings of tulips) that swept through Holland in the sec-
Source: Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/ralphnader1.html
ond quarter of the seventeenth century.
This modern consumerism had three characteristics.
First, it was cross-class.While social distinctions were not
majority of the population, which precluded significant obliterated, one of the joys of modern consumerism
consumerist commitments. Even elites frequently shied involved buying the same kinds of styles as one’s betters
away from full-blown consumerism, particularly in the —if perhaps of lower quality. Many social critics noted
sense of avid interest in novelty as opposed to established this feature, bemoaning (and exaggerating) the loss of the