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Ralph Nader
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== Personal life == Nader, whose family was Antiochian Greek Orthodox Christian, recalled that during his childhood his family had been "embraced" by a [[Methodism|Methodist]] church where he attended [[Sunday school]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The Seventeen Traditions: Lessons from an American Childhood|last=Nader|first=Ralph|date=October 13, 2009|publisher=[[HarperCollins]]|pages=103β105}}</ref> In addition to English, Nader also speaks Spanish, Russian, [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], Chinese, and conversational Arabic.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ralph Nader Fast Facts|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/08/us/ralph-nader-fast-facts/|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[CNN]]|date=March 2, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Crashing the Party|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?168072-1/crashing-party|access-date=November 10, 2021|work=[[C-SPAN]]|date=January 4, 2002}}</ref> Nader defines his ideology not as left-wing or right-wing but as a "[[morality|moral]] [[empiricism|empiricist]]".<ref name="me">{{cite web |url=https://reason.com/archives/2014/06/11/ralph-nader/5 |title=Ralph Nader Q&A: How Progressives and Libertarians Are Taking on Crony Capitalism and Corrupt Dems and Reps |last=Gillespie |first=Nick |author-link=Nick Gillespie |work=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]] |date=January 11, 2014}}</ref> He has lived in Washington D.C. since the 1960s, but is domiciled in [[Connecticut]], where he is registered to vote.<ref name="Washingtoncitypaper.com"/> Nader has expressed admiration for [[Robert M. La Follette|Robert La Follette]], [[Eugene Debs]], and [[Edmund Burke]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.c-span.org/video/?318980-1/qa-ralph-nader|title=Q&A with Ralph Nader}}</ref> His siblings are [[Laura Nader|Laura]] (a professor of social and cultural [[anthropology]] at [[University of California, Berkeley|U.C. Berkeley]]), [[Claire Nader|Claire]], and late brother [[Shafeek Nader|Shafeek]].<ref name=Nader-Childhood>{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader's Childhood Roots|work=Green Party of Ohio (official website)|publisher=Green Party of Ohio|access-date=May 20, 2014|author=Annie Birdsong|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000816010515/http://www.ohiogreens.org/nader2000/roots.html|url=http://www.ohiogreens.org/nader2000/roots.html|archive-date=August 16, 2000|date=August 13, 2000}}</ref> After his older brother Shafeek died of [[prostate cancer]] in 1986, Nader developed [[Bell's palsy]], which paralyzed the left side of his mouth for several months. He commented on his partial facial paralysis to audiences during this time with the quip that "at least my opponents can't say I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/special/president/candidates/nader.html |title=Specials |publisher=Cnn.com |access-date=February 19, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader on the issues|url=http://www.ontheissues.org/Ralph_Nader.htm|access-date=March 23, 2017}}</ref> Nader's grandniece Samya Stumo was among the 157 people killed in the crash of [[Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302]] in March 2019.<ref name="MacGillis-2019"/> Nader is a lifelong fan of the [[New York Yankees]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Neuman |first1=Joshua |title=Ralph Nader Petitions Mariano Rivera for One More Year |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a24076/ralph-nader-mariano-rivera/ |access-date=January 8, 2023 |work=Esquire |date=July 29, 2013}}</ref> ===Personality and character traits=== [[Rupert Cornwell]] of ''[[The Independent]]'' described Nader as an "ascetic ... bordering on self-righteous".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Cornwell|first1=Rupert|title=Ralph Nader: Ascetic, zealot-like, bordering on self-righteous|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/ralph-nader-ascetic-zealot-like-bordering-on-self-righteous-a6893481.html|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[The Independent]]|date=February 27, 2016}}</ref> Despite access to respectable financial assets, he lives in a modest apartment and spends $25,000 annually on personal bills, conducting most of his writing on a [[typewriter]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Victor|first=Kirk|title=Typewriter Man|url=http://www.nationaljournal.com/next-economy/ralph-nader-typewriter-man-20120607|work=[[National Journal]]|access-date=September 8, 2012}}</ref><ref name="Princeton alumni piece">{{cite web|last1=Fisher|first1=Marc|title=Ralph Nader '55's Paradise Lost|url=https://paw.princeton.edu/article/ralph-nader-55s-paradise-lost|website=Princeton Alumni Weekly|date=June 3, 2015|publisher=The Trustees of Princeton University|access-date=May 7, 2018}}</ref> According to popular accounts of his personal life, he does not own a television, relies primarily on [[public transportation]], and over a 25-year period, until 1983, exclusively wore one of a dozen pairs of shoes he had purchased at a clearance sale in 1959. His suits, which he reports he purchases at sales and outlet stores, have been the repeated subject of public scrutiny, being variously described as "wrinkled", "rumpled", and "styleless". A newspaper story once described Nader as a "conscientious objector to fashion".<ref>{{cite news|title=Conscientious Objector to Fashion|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19910820&id=PRJgAAAAIBAJ&pg=5739,3997624|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=[[The Telegraph (Nashua)|The Telegraph]]|date=August 20, 1991}}</ref> Nader has never married. Karen Croft, a writer who worked for Nader in the late 1970s at the Center for Study of Responsive Law, once asked him if he had ever considered marriage, to which he responded that he had made a choice to dedicate his life to career rather than family.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2000/07/nader.html |title=Candidate Nader |work=Mother Jones |access-date=February 1, 2009 }}</ref> === Finances === According to the mandatory fiscal disclosure report that he filed with the [[Federal Election Commission]] in 2000, Nader owned more than $3 million worth of stocks and mutual fund shares; his single largest holding was more than $1 million worth of stock in [[Cisco Systems, Inc.]] He also held between $100,000 and $250,000 worth of shares in the [[Magellan Fund]].<ref>{{cite journal | last = Tapper | first = Jake | title = Inside Nader's stock portfolio | journal = [[Salon.com]] | date = October 28, 2000 | url = https://www.salon.com/2000/10/28/stocks_4/ | access-date = August 15, 2009}}</ref> Nader said he owned no car and owned no real estate directly in 2000, and said that he lived on $25,000 a year, giving most of his stock earnings to many of the over four dozen non-profit organizations he had founded.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/19/us/nader-reports-big-portfolio-in-technology.html |title=Nader Reports Big Portfolio In Technology |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=June 19, 2000 |access-date=May 24, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.opensecrets.org/pfds/candlook.php?txtName=nader |title= Ralph Nader: Personal Finances |access-date=October 28, 2008 |publisher= [[OpenSecrets]] }}</ref> Nader owns shares in [[Amazon (company)|Amazon]] and believes the corporation should be paying shareholders a dividend.<ref name="Fox Business Amazon dividends">{{cite web|title=Ralph Nader calls on Amazon to issue dividends|url=http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5712152040001/?#sp=show-clips|website=Fox Business| date=January 16, 2018 |access-date=April 6, 2018}}</ref> He also believes that there should be an "antitrust investigation" looking into the company's business practices.<ref name="Amazon business practices">{{cite web|title=Trump won't do anything about Amazon: Ralph Nader|url=http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/5760656275001/?#sp=show-clips|website=Fox Business| date=March 29, 2018 |access-date=April 6, 2018}}</ref> Nader is also an [[Apple Inc.]] shareholder. In 2018, he wrote an open letter to [[Tim Cook]] criticizing Apple's $100 billion [[Share repurchase|share buyback]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Ralph Nader to Apple's Tim Cook: Use profits for worker raises|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ralph-nader-to-apples-tim-cook-use-profits-for-worker-raises/|access-date=May 13, 2018|publisher=CBS News}}</ref>
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