Mischief Maker wrote:

The pendulum swung the other way because of the death of Ralph Nader, whom I kill by having him drive into the back of a Corvair. I grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and Ralph Nader pretty much single-handedly killed that model of car with his publication of Unsafe at Any Speed.

So you're all set for a story of his father getting laid off and his family being thrown into poverty by Nader's shortsighted busybodying...