Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us!

New York: Seven Stories Press, 2009. First Edition. First Printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Robert Grossman (Frontis art). 733, [3] pages. Inscribed on title page. Ralph Nader (born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney, noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the United States, Nader was educated at Princeton and Harvard and first came to prominence in 1965 with the publication of the bestselling book Unsafe at Any Speed, a critique of the safety record of American automobile manufacturers that became known as one of the most important journalistic pieces of the 20th century. Following the publication of Unsafe at Any Speed, Nader led a group of volunteer law students - dubbed "Nader's Raiders" - in a groundbreaking investigation of the Federal Trade Commission, leading directly to that agency's overhaul and reform. In the 1970s, Nader leveraged his growing popularity to establish a number of advocacy and watchdog groups including the Public Interest Research Group, the Center for Auto Safety, and Public Citizen. Nader's activism has been directly credited with the passage of several landmark pieces of legislation including the Clean Water Act, the Freedom of Information Act, the Consumer Product Safety Act, and the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, and he has been repeatedly named to lists of the "100 Most Influential Americans", including those published by Life Magazine, Time Magazine, and The Atlantic, among others. He has run for President of the United States as an independent and third party candidate. A Nieman Fellow, Nader is the author or co-author of more than two dozen books, Ralph Nader's first work of fiction paints a portrait of what America could become. He wrote the book to inspire imaginative solutions to the problem of corrupt politicians and financial institutions. Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! is a 2009 fictional work by American political activist Ralph Nader, described by him as a practical utopia, in the style of Edward Bellamy's 1888 utopian novel Looking Backwards. Nader wrote the book to inspire imaginative solutions to the problem of corrupt politicians and financial institutions. Just as Atlas Shrugged portrayed self-interested successful capitalists working to create a "Utopia of Greed" that is free from government, Only the Super-Rich Can Save Us! portrays an altruistic group of super-rich individuals working to "re-make government" and where "the rebellious rich take on the reigning rich." The novel's protagonist is inspired by Warren Buffett. On August 14, 2011, Warren Buffett wrote an influential op-ed entitled, "Stop Coddling the Super-rich", which argues that the super-rich should bear more responsibility and pay their "fair share" of taxes. From the book's website: ""In the cozy den of the large but modest house in Omaha where he has lived since he started on his first billion, Warren Buffett watched the horrors of Hurricane Katrina unfold on television in early September 2005. . . . On the fourth day, he beheld in disbelief the paralysis of local, state, and federal authorities unable to commence basic operations of rescue and sustenance, not just in New Orleans, but in towns and villages all along the Gulf Coast. . . He knew exactly what he had to do. . ." So begins the vivid fictional account by political activist and bestselling author Ralph Nader that answers the question, "What if?" What if a cadre of superrich individuals tried to become a driving force in America to organize and institutionalize the interests of the citizens of this troubled nation? What if some of America's most powerful individuals decided it was time to fix our government and return the power to the people? What if they focused their power on unionizing Wal-Mart? What if a national political party were formed with the sole purpose of advancing clean elections? What if these seventeen superrich individuals decided to galvanize a movement for alternative forms of energy that will effectively clean up the environment? What if together they took on corporate goliaths and Congress to provide the necessities of life and advance the solutions so long left on the shelf by an avaricious oligarchy? What could happen? This extraordinary story, written by the author who knows the most about citizen action, returns us to the literature of American social movements-to Edward Bellamy, to Upton Sinclair, to John Steinbeck, to Stephen Crane-reminding us in the process that changing the body politic of America starts with imagination."