Graham organized the book in chronological order, beginning with the motor safety trials in November 1965. This is followed by a brief description of Nader's childhood, and then the book goes into detail about Ralph Nader's other accomplishments. Due to the fact that the words that graham decided to use flow well, this book was an easy read. He kept all of the vocabulary simple and to the point. Overall, this book had many strengths and few weaknesses. One of the weaknesses that the book had was the length. With only 121 pages, I fell that Graham could have spent more time on the book. He could of added detail about Nader's childhood and family.

Nevertheless, these minor mistakes are not strong enough to detract from the quality of the book. Overall, this book rates about four stars as it was extremely interesting and it had great facts. But most of all, this book was an easy read. I would recommend this book anyone who is interested in the work of Ralph Nader and wants to work towards a more democratic society

After reading this book, I think I have a better grasp on the problems with GMO foods as contrasted to traditional food. The most shocking assertion I found in the book is that GMO foods do not offer any benefits (whether it be higher yields, higher nutritional value etc...). I have not done enough research to verify this either way but if true that would be quite shocking.

Some of the interesting things I learned in the book:

- GMO science is quite imprecise. Researchers are often not sure if the insertion of foreign genes into a host (e.g. a plant) will have the predicted results or not.

- The immense size of some GMO companies, notably the American firm Monsanto. (To give some perspective: Microsoft is to the software industry as Monsanto is to the GMO industry)

One of the most pressing concerns for me was the commercialization of agriculture. For example, Monsanto spent $8 billion US in the first half of 1998 buying out seed companies (a few companies may end up owning patents to all the seeds in the world if this is left unchecked). The new trend of patenting seeds is also creating a dependency on the part of the farmers. Prior to GMO, farmers would save the seeds from their better crops and plant those next years. GMO companies, through contracts and other legal instruments, now insure that farmers buy from them EVERY year and they penalize the farmers if they attempt to save seeds. The whole concept of OWNING plants and organisms was very disturbing (it was interesting to note that a little known US Supreme Court decision Diamond v. Chakrabarty 1980 set a precedent in patenting life)

There was also some discussion of whether GMO foods should be labeled as such (the authors argue that GMO foods should be labeled). Of course, this is done in Western Europe, so there is no question of whether this is possible. GMO companies are vigorously fighting this, fearing that the public will immediately stop buying their products.

The main content of the book consisted of documenting various cases where GMO foods have caused problems of some sort or another. There was an interesting point made on how much of an influence GMO companies have on the Food and Drug Administration in the US. There was also an introductory section on genetic engineering, so the beginner will not get lost.

The authors offered a personal strategy whereby one can try to publicize the issue, find alternatives to buying and eating GMO foods and so on. The authors are clearly of the view that GMO foods are, at best, a strange unknown and, at worst, a foolish risk.

I took off a star off because the writing could have been better and the authors made their agenda a little too obvious. It would have improved the book if they had included and responded to some of the pro-GMO counter-arguments.

The book does not tell you what you should do, but it really does not have too because the evidence the authors provide is so compelling, that anyone who reads this book will think twice about their next purchase at the store.

The book also explores the nature by which large corporations such as Novartis and Monsanto are able to saturate the market with their products before ample (or any kind of) testing is performed. Monsanto is also on the path to a closed loop business whereby they sell the farmers the GMO seeds which in turn require the pesticide (or other chemical) also manufactured by saiid company and the farmer must also pay a technology fee for using the seed!

A must read!

Charles Derber gives an excellent description of the history of corporations within the United States and elsewhere as well as timeline leading into what they have become. He advocates careful legislation, but more importantly - grassroots activism. His solutions include educated consumerism, socially-responsible investing, and cooperation of non-profits.

This book is an easy read that doesn't require an MBA to understand - it should be required reading for political economics courses.

If a book is going to be abridged like this one, chances are that it's intended for mildly curious readers who want to know, "just what are they protesting about the WTO anyway?", rather than for the scholar or intellectual activist. But I'm afraid that this book forgets its likeliest audience. For such an audience, the more effective approach would have been to describe the most extreme and outrageous WTO scenarios, leaving the reader outraged at the moral and political injustices! Instead, this book gives brief desriptions of these, and then mixes in more technical (yet abridged) histories and terms and procedural issues with the WTO. In short, it left in too much of the nuts-and-bolts when it should have displayed more of the outrageous effects on human rights, environment, national sovereinty, labor, toxins, etc.

A second shortcoming is that the book assumes its reader is sympathetic to such concerns (environment, labor, culture, etc.). What we need is a book directed at Conservatives, explaining to them why the WTO is an insult to conservative values by supplanting the laws created by a sovereign nation, overwhelming our Constitution in favor of corporate-managed meddling, and actually defying the concept of "free trade" with shockingly-entrenched meddling from an organization that does not have the U.S.'s sovereign interests in mind.

Lori Wallach has got to be on her way to a Nobel Prize. She has hit an exposed nerve of the corporate system, and illuminated it in a manner that moves tens of thousands. This book, a very short version of a much longer study, is very cogent and well-documented. The bottom line is clear: the WTO operates in secrecy, for the convenience of corporations, and is systematically undermining and overturning higher standards of protections and sanctions related to the protection of children, public safety, and the environment.

It merits comment that Wallach (and her lesser known co-author, Michelle Sforza) would never have reached as many people with their thinking in the absence of the Open Media Pamphlet Series. This series is addictive, brilliant, and consistently cuts to the heart of major issues.

An interesting read for those who believe in the American way but want to get a glimpse into some of the negatives that Nader and his guys feel need some improvement. Books like this need to be written because it forces people to take a closer look at some of the government waste and the sometimes shady corporate/government partnerships. But I don't think that Nader's solutions are very practical politically nor will they be easily implemented.

Nader coined the term "corporate welfare" in 1956, before he became famous for attacking General Motors, and it's been a pet topic of his ever since. It means, basically, government spending of any kind whatsoever that has the effect of benefiting corporations.

Some government give-aways are obvious, like the $70 billion in lost revenue from the 1996 Telecommunications Act, when the feds gave big broadcasters a new broadcast spectrum for free, instead of auctioning it off. Nader says this is because broadcasters contribute heavily to political campaigns; and that's the essence of his view, that all corporate welfare is based on campaign kickbacks.

But some government give-aways are a lot less obvious. It's impressive how Nader can apply that specific a concept to such a wide array of policy issues. (He can do this successfully because he has spent the last 45 years thinking about little else. When an interviewer asked him what he likes to do with his free time, he responded, "I like to visit a meat-processing plant. Or a coal mine.)

The problem, as Nader sees it, is that government giveaways to corporations are repaid by campaign donations, so the politicians who support the corporate welfare get corporate support back for their re-election, and the cycle continues indefinitely. This is what Nader meant when he called Gore & Bush "tweedledum and tweedledee", with no substantive differences between them. When pressed, Nader conceded that Gore & Bush DID differ on the issues, but he says that the only REAL difference is which corporations support Gore versus which support Bush. They both kowtow equally, says Nader, and that's the source of inherent corruption.

This book is never going to have the impact of Nader's 1960s classic "Unsafe at Any Speed," which basically gave bith to the consumer safety industry. But it DOES address a resonant chord in the American electorate, as we saw with John McCain's immense popularity. McCain addressed the same basic issues of campaign finance problems (and in fact was one of the few Senate opponents of that 1996 Telecomm Act), but without the deeper underpinning that Nader presents.

Some examples of Nader's applications of misuse of government resources on corporate welfare:

* Subsidizing defense industry mergers

* Pork-barrel highway projects

* "Export assistance" to big companies

* Tax holidays for sports stadiums

* Corporate tax loopholes

....

Nader's style is a little dry and difficult to read at times, but the points he brings up (especially in the sections on the presidency, democracy, and grassroots organizing) are vital to the progressive movement. His sections on tort reform and law practice are a little more technical and are probably best understood by those in the field.

Nader has stood by his convictions from the time he started fighting GM to today. This is an excellent book that traces his numerous crusades throughout the decades and gives a boost to the future.

By locking Ralph Nader out of the election debates, the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) may have served the corporate underwriters of the event--companies like AT&T and Anheuser-Busch--but this private organization performed a terrible disservice to the American people. Not only was Nader left out of the debates, he was actually *kicked* out of the debate hall, despite having a legitimate ticket to attend as an audience member! Makes you wonder what the major parties are afraid of, doesn't it?

Fortunately, we have a fine collection of Nader's essays in this book that does a great job of presenting the progressive, compassionate thinking that defines this presidential candidate and makes him stand apart from the political pretenders who can't even make the debates into lively televised spectacle, that's how much their policies mirror one another's.

Mr. Nader is the real deal. A man of energy and action, a man of principle and determination. A true hero whose decades of committed public service will stand as testimony to his lofty, truly democratic ideals long after Bush/Gore have been forgotten.

Read this book, endorse this great man. .

The book does have a lot of useful information on how the WTO runs and how it is focussed on the needs of corporations, most of which reside in the most developed capitalist countries, and which seek a set of global rules that allows them greater freedom of movement to invest and exploit (wow, I already hear the neo-cons whining because I used the 'E' word.) It also shows that the balance between global capital and the nation state has shifted, though this does not have the dire anti-democratic consequences claimed herein. That would be the liberal assumption that the nation state 'represents the people' and that that is a good thing.

At the same time as some people claim that the WTO is killing the nation state, this book makes it clear that the WTO is a body run by and through nation states. Corporations cannot directly intervene, but must have their concerns addressed through nation state mediators.

The book also does a good job of exposing the total lack of accountability of the WTO, as well as one of its unique features: unlike previous UN organizations, the WTO has disciplinary powers which it can use to enforce its rulings, something no 'humanitarian' part of the UN ever had.

The abscence of any kind of class analysis hinders this book theoretically and means that some possibly interesting questions do not get answered.

This book is better read alongside some other texts, which, even with their failings, fill in some of blanks here, such as Negri and Hardt's Empire.

Overall, a pretty useful and utilitarian overview of the WTO.

This review doesn't need to be lengthy: Look, there are lots of books on the WTO. If you want the accurate summary to understand this issue simply, this is it.