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Review: Republic, Lost - Lawrence Lessig
| Arkie | 26 Oct 12 - 07:38 PM | |
| Arkie | 26 Oct 12 - 07:39 PM | |
| Stringsinger | 27 Oct 12 - 02:38 PM | |
| Stilly River Sage | 28 Oct 12 - 12:48 AM | |
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Review: Republic, Lost - Lawrence Lessig
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Subject: Review: Republic, Lost - Lawrence Lessig From: Arkie Date: 26 Oct 12 - 07:38 PM Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress--and a Plan to Stop It. This book was published last October. Anyone here read it. Lawrence Lessig has been mentioned here previously and there was a thread on one of his books . Seems like a sensible fellow. Here is a blurb: 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. |
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Subject: RE: Review: Republic, Lost - Lawrence Lessig From: Arkie Date: 26 Oct 12 - 07:39 PM This needs to go below the line if there are any editors listening. |
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Subject: RE: Review: Republic, Lost - Lawrence Lessig From: Stringsinger Date: 27 Oct 12 - 02:38 PM The corruption is a disease that infects not just Congress and the Senate but the Supreme Court and the Executive Branch of government, including the destabilization of the government agencies such as the EPA, FDA,SEC and others defiled by lobby corruption. FDR wouldn't have stood for it. And don't forget the Pentagon, one of the chief institutions of corruption. Then there's the defense contractors (Blackwater/Xe, Halliburton and those who outnumber the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another title could be Democracy, Lost. |
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Subject: RE: Review: Republic, Lost - Lawrence Lessig From: Stilly River Sage Date: 28 Oct 12 - 12:48 AM I have posted about Lessig before, I've been following his activity for several years, since he spoke on my campus. He's a smart guy. Alas, in my opinion he is entirely correct in his view of how politics and business and political influence work today. It's damned depressing. SRS |
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