Republic, Lost v2 released by Lawrence Lessig.
Lessig announces a new version of Republic, Lost.
From the Amazon page:
In an era when special interests funnel huge amounts of money into our government-driven by shifts in campaign-finance rules and brought to new levels by the Supreme Court in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission-trust in our government has reached an all-time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress, and that business interests wield control over our legislature.
With heartfelt urgency and a keen desire for righting wrongs, Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig takes a clear-eyed look at how we arrived at this crisis: how fundamentally good people, with good intentions, have allowed our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests, and how this exploitation has become entrenched in the system. Rejecting simple labels and reductive logic-and instead using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left-Lessig seeks out the root causes of our situation. He plumbs the issues of campaign financing and corporate lobbying, revealing the human faces and follies that have allowed corruption to take such a foothold in our system. He puts the issues in terms that nonwonks can understand, using real-world analogies and real human stories. And ultimately he calls for widespread mobilization and a new Constitutional Convention, presenting achievable solutions for regaining control of our corrupted-but redeemable-representational system. In this way, Lessig plots a roadmap for returning our republic to its intended greatness.
While America may be divided, Lessig vividly champions the idea that we can succeed if we accept that corruption is our common enemy and that we must find a way to fight against it. In REPUBLIC, LOST, he not only makes this need palpable and clear-he gives us the practical and intellectual tools to do something about it.
Ahem,
…have allowed our democracy to be co-opted by outside interests, and how this exploitation has become entrenched in the system.
Really?
I’m sure Republic, Lost v2 is a great read but I can say without reading it that “our democracy” hasn’t been “co-opted by outside interests,” as a matter of historical fact.
If you recall even a little American history, representation for offices in the House of Representatives counted slaves as three-fifths of a person.
Section 2 of Article 1, United States Constitution:
Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states . . . by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons.
Moreover, “our democracy” has restricted the right to vote on the basis of land ownership, race, gender and a variety of other means. Winning the Vote: A History of Voting Rights.
Truth be told, calling the United States a democracy and/or a republic is a distortion beyond recognition of either word.
Lessig wants to create a new vision of rights and obligations in a democracy but let’s not pretend it is a correction of the present system.
The present system was designed, part and parcel to favor property owners over all other classes and wealthy property owners over the less well to do. Those advantages are baked into the present constitution and law.
Changing those advantages will require a new Constitutional Convention. But let’s remember how the last one turned out. All “rights” will be in play, not just the ones Lessig would redefine.
What if state and local governments become liable for “lost anticipated profits” because of health or regulatory activities? Could happen. The TPP has language to that effect right now.
What if the rights of criminal defendants are curtailed? What if “hate speech” is banned in the new Constitution?
And for that matter, what is to prevent corporations and the wealthy from buying influence at a new constitutional convention? Are delegates going to magically become incorruptible and civic minded?
If you have that cure, why not distributed to elected officials now?
Corrupt institutions are corrupt because people with the power to corrupt them like it that way.
Think long and hard before you give corrupt people a shot at re-writing all the rules.
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