At a time when democracy in our country hangs by a thread, Ralph Nader urges birders to turn their passion for birding toward becoming activists for change. Ralph's model for a successful return to true democracy is outlined in his book "The Seventeen Solutions". According to Nader, in order to succeed, we only need 1 to 2 % of the U.S. population to become activists with a direct focus on the activities of Congress.
In an interview on Breaking the Set, he reasons that we have 15 million serious birdwatchers in America, and if just one in four of us became activists for change, with the same intensity we direct towards birding, we could turn the country around. Hmmm... he might be on to something.
But then again, imagine Occupy Wall Street packed full of birdwatchers! I'm not sure if we would have kept our attention focused on the issues for long, especially if we had our binoculars with us. How far is Central Park from Wall Street anyway?
See Ralph Nader's interview on Breaking the Set with Abby Martin below. To skip ahead to his "birdwatchers as activists" commentary, go to 10:00 on the timeline.
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