It’s no secret that Lawrence Lessig is one of my heroes in the way that he takes on meaningful efforts to change the world for (what I think, at least) good and his ability to articulate those efforts in compelling ways. It’s also no secret that over the past year I’ve become more disillusioned with the government here in the US. Mostly it’s a frustration about how nothing changes (or will change), how money is the motivator for everything that happens, and how much it feels like we have lost the best of our democracy to special interests. I was a huge Obama supporter; today, notsomuch. I’m totally surprised and disappointed by the whole Race to the Top agenda. I really hoped he would have done better by the kids in this country who desperately need a different vision for “education” (even though they may not know it.) But that said, this really isn’t about a party or a person as much as it is about a system that is plainly broken. Sounds familiar.
Anyway, I’ve been a supporter (both as a contributor of money and time) of Lessig’s Change Congress agenda since it was first announced a couple of years ago. And I think his latest video is worth the seven minutes it takes to watch it since it paints a compelling picture of what’s wrong and one solution, at least, that we can seriously consider supporting. My own feeling is that while we have a lot of serious challenges that we’re facing in this country, none of them are going to be fixed in the long term until we get money out of politics.
One last thing…I’m hopeful that a movement like Change Congress can actually bring together millions of people to actually create change. It would be quite an inspiration for a similar movement to change education.
Here’s the video:
Thanks for bringing the Lessig video to my attention. I needed to read/hear/see something constructive this morning, when another multi-million dollar election, this one in Massachusetts, has been decided. I share your hopes, Will.
Thanks for sharing this, I hadn’t seen this video yet.
I really clicked with the message from an earlier Change Congress video: just as an alcoholic can’t repair relationships and get back on his feet until he addresses his alcoholism, government cannot effectively debate and implement solutions until corruption/lobbying/campaign finance are addressed.
I read with interest your comments about needing a “Vision for Education” I’ve gone “a step further and created a web site for youth to create Vision Videos” for their lives.
My belief is we have a vision deficit in our country and need more hope and possibility. Check out the site.
George
I think the MAIN message of the Change Congress movement is one that people from all ideological views can get on board with. Personally, I don’t agree with many of the ultra liberal causes that the Change Congress newsletter likes to support, and I think it honestly dampens the effectiveness of their PRIMARY message when they do that.
But, when it comes to their PRIMARY message and his work on the Creative Commons, I think it is fair to say that Larry Lessig is the man, and he’s really on to something with the concept.