Posted on Friday, August 1 at 10:26am |
At the Commonwealth Club Thursday night, I had the opportunity to question Ralph Nader, who was in town promoting his new book, “Unstoppable, the Emerging Left Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State.” It may surprise you to learn that Ralph and I go back many years. My husband Wesley J. Smith has co-written a number of books with consumer icon. Here are, links to two of those books, Collision Course: The Truth about Airline Safety andNo Contest: Corporate Lawyers and the Perversion of Justice in America.
Here’s a photo of the three of us before the event.
I decided to ask Ralph about the sharing economy. Has he ever used Uber or Lyft? No.Airbnb? No. What does he think of these new startup companies? “It’s the same questions we’d all ask: Are they regulated for safety? Are they licensed for being expert drivers? Is the car inspected?”
“It’s unfair if they are not properly regulated, certified to safeguard the passenger. It’s unfair to the cab industry.” He believes car-sharing got popular in D.C. because people are tired waiting for cabs. Now the cab companies have become more responsive and they answer the phone more quickly. “In New York they’re starting to regulate Uber and I think that’s the way it’s going to end up. And of course, the more drivers there are the less Uber drivers are going to make. Right now they’re making quite a bit of money compared to cab drivers.”
Airbnb? “It’s the same thing. I don’t mind de-centralizing… If you’re gonna find a room in some house in Elm Street” it would have to meet standards. Should San Francisco regulate Airbnb rentals? “All that should be regulated.” he answered. Otherwise you get “unfair competition.”
Speaking of violence in Central America, he blamed the war on drugs, which he wants to end by legalizing their use. “What are we doing? What are we doing — not decriminalizing, regulating these drugs and having a major effort, a slice of what the drug war costs us for rehabilitation?”
“What would happen if we criminalized alcohol consumption? Or tobacco smoking? Drugs, all addictive substances should be viewed first and foremost as health problems, not criminal behavior.” What about traffickers? “There are no traffickers once you legalize it. There are only storekeepers.”
Ralph is no fan of drug addiction, but he still says drugs should be legal. Heroin and cocaine used to be. “You can never suppress addiction by law. It’s going to burst out in the most ferocious, destructive, addictive ways…. suicides and homicides. Bring it up, surface it, decriminalize it, regulate it, tax it and then move toward rehabilitation clinics all over the country.”
And: “There are certain patterns of behavior in human society that are beyond the effective range of legal action. You can’t prosecute them enough. They’ll proliferate in all kinds of brutal ways.”
You can listen to audio of Nader’s comments here:
Nader speaks at the Commonwealth Club in SF on July 31, 2014.
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