I just did a quick fact-check upon finding that Wozniak is one of the
heavy hitter supporters of this. He's supposedly worth $100M. So if he
just threw down the $5M, that would be like one of us throwing down $5K
or maybe $50K in some cases. So, I still don't think Lessig's campaign
is really about raising money... that is just the vehicle for raising
awareness/interest?
While I don't think it is a bad idea to (using Glen's words) "fight fire
with fire" by "buying back" the right to not have elections bought and
sold, I'm still puzzled as to whether we have given up the fight when we
decide that such things *can* (and apparently should?) be bought and
sold? Buying it back might be a good start to taking it off the
market... a bit like buying up all the slaves and releasing them or
hiring all the prostitutes to work as secretaries (can you pay them as
well and provide all of the other perqs they are used to?).
Isn't there something important to notice when we notice that money
*can* buy elections which in turn buys special favors?
I don't want to be totally naive and pretend that there *are not*
corrupt politicians willing (eager? motivated by nothing else?) to sell
their votes to the highest bidder. What I don't get is why we keep
promoting them into candidacy, electing them, then letting them behave
this way? And why do we as the electorate allow big-money
advertising/campaigning to sway us?
I *get* that if the candidate never shows her face in public, it is hard
to vote for her, and that it is hard for her to show her face well and
often if she doesn't have *some* cash to pay for the tour bus, the "free
lunches" etc. But really? Does a *lavish* lunch buy the vote that
much better than a hot-dog? Do "extremely slick" attack ads work a lot
better than simple, blunt "the other guy is a big schmuck" ads? Who
are we, if we are swayed by slick talk, fancy ads, expensive bribes? Or
more to the point, who are we if we think *we* are above all that, but
*the unwashed masses* are not? Are we left with two (or three or
four) inbred, isolated choirs sitting around singing to themselves? Or
does all that door-to-door (TV to TV) caroling make a difference?
Apparently it does.
Yes, our mechanism (unlimited campaign finance) is broken or at least
lame... but isn't the fundamental problem our *culture*, a
media-besotted culture who can be so easily swayed by billboards, flashy
endorsements from celebrities, slick print/radio/TV ads? How did
choosing our representative leaders in a democracy become a popularity
contest? I *know* that some of lobbying and campaigning and
advertising is in some way "necessary" in our modern culture... but what
I don't get is how *we* let it be so key. And who do we become, who
are we, if we let that be "just the way it is"?
Of course, I have no answer to any of this beyond my own self and my
immediate sphere, and even there "scant influence".
- Steve
It would be nice if someone here could come up with something concrete
besides contributing. Rather than wait for that, I also have created
a pledge page <https://my.mayday.us/t/c257-Joseph-Spinden/> for anyone
that would like to contribute to the Mayday Political Action Committee
<https://mayday.us/>.
Joe
On 7/1/14, 10:22 PM, Robert J. Cordingley wrote:
Dare I say, as expected, offered an opportunity to actual do
something, many (the 91%?) keep explaining (debate back and forth)
why one should do nothing.
With all the talent and expertise on this list, surely someone could
help Larry Lessig succeed with his campaign? It's
complicated/complex. Who's up to it? Remember, this was inspired
<http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-aaron-swartz-helped-inspire-lawrence-lessigs-mayday-pac>
by Aaron Swartz.
Robert C
On 7/1/14 7:47 PM, Arlo Barnes wrote:
On Tue, Jul 1, 2014 at 5:36 PM, glen <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
But, again, hyper-focus on how we vote is probably no better
than hyper-focus on how campaigns are funded. If only there
were some way we could compose multiple mechanisms into some
magic machine and, oh I don't know, run it forward to see how it
all works out, then compare that machine to data taken from the
world and tweak the machine until it seems to work, then base
our predictions off that machine. [sigh] Sounds like science
fiction to me!
Sound like history to me. Although there are a few things about our
current situation that are unique enough to make it hard to draw
comparisons.
-Arlo James Barnes
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