Ralph Nader address to Engineers Without Borders conference

Ralph Nader gave the end of the day key note address Friday afternoon which brought to a close an impressive, provocative day at the Engineers Without Borders conference. He made clear how impressed he was with the Canadian chapter of EWB because its youth membership not only deal with the practical aspects of development overseas but tackle the difficult questions of the philosophical and political ideologies that drive development aid.

His base argument and message was that social justice should form the basis of foreign aid and be its main motivator. “With more social justice you need less charity.” (This was also a message related by panel members in a previous session regarding CIDA reform.) The focus should not be on ‘pain syndromes’ but on systemic causes. He related the need to be aware of the increasing merger of economic powers and government against the greater ‘public good.’ The triumph of theory over fact. He stressed the fact that the corporate model is dominating and that this has to change.

Academic science vs. corporate science
Academic engineering vs. corporate engineering

He advised the people in the room not to waste their talent and ability. Most young people in the room could become very wealthy using the corporate model with very little effort or real thought. But what would they achieve? Young engineers should be guided by a moral obligation to use their knowledge for the greater good of humanity and not as a tool to merely achieve wealth. The corporate model of development aid doesn’t work. UN studies have reflected a reality that 40-50 billion dollars in targeted foreign aid could provide the basic needs of water, food, and health services in the developing world. That 40-50 billion dollars reflects the recent profits of just one or two major multi-national corporations in the last year, oil companies for example. The corporate model of development is wrong because it draws on the wrong expertise that demonstrates contempt for developing countries. Much of the real accomplishments and innovations have come from developing countries and not the western world. Micro credit in India, a very successful system used largely by women, soil houses and other construction in Egypt and elsewhere, indigenous cultures in Brazil and elsewhere who command an extensive, natural, scientific knowledge of the forest and natural world. This knowledge is largely ignored because it doesn’t meet the western standard of ‘double blind’ study. The same questions we are debating today on which models to use and what effectiveness they have on real development are the same questions that were being asked 40 years ago. Are we debating these questions still because we don’t know how to do it or we don’t like the truth behind the real answers?

“Freedom is participation in power” he said, quoting Cicero. “Civics skills courses should be taught…what is needed to make democracy work as opposed to simply civics courses, which is mostly memorization anyway.”

In response to questions surrounding how ‘to keep faith’ and stay motivated he advised that it was necessary to share the credit and that the function of leadership is to create more leaders. Nader stressed the importance of small victories as a preventative measure to combat ‘burn out’. The overwhelming task of transforming social conditions and attitudes within Canadian society encompassed in EWB’s focus on poverty reduction and the immensity of the task of overseas development can quickly lead to disillusionment and frustration. Small victories help to motivate and revitalize your energy and should never be dismissed even though the goal of course is always the higher ideal of transformation. He related that his father would ask him when he came home from school, “What did you learn in school today? Did you learn how to think or what to believe?” Belief without thought cannot change things. He mourned the loss of words and their meanings such as, Knowledge, Judgment, Wisdom, and Thrift. “These must be the loneliest words in the dictionary”, he quipped. He further stressed to the young audience not to trivialize their self worth. Self respect is essential to develop their character and motivate them into action. When confronted with the question of why a person should take action and how could they achieve anything he had this to say. “Look to your grandparents and what they achieved in the face of adversities and challenges that you don’t face. And they did it without technology…so you know…stop crying in your beer about it. What are you going to tell your grandchildren when they look around at the mess they’ve been left and they ask, “Where were you when all this was happening?” What are you going to tell them? That you were sitting at home watching the third re-run of Cheers on television? At the end of the session he quoted an old proverb.

“To know and not to act is not to know”.