Transcript for Lessig '08

[ <1> ] [CHANGE]

[CHANGE] There's been a lot of talk this political season about the idea of change.

[agreement] What exactly change means is, of course, not clear, but what is clear is an agreement

[where change comes from] about where change comes from.

Barack Obama >> Change does not happen from the top down in America or anywhere else. It happens from the bottom up.

Hillary Clinton >> It's going to take a grassroots movement.

[grassroots movement where is it?] A grassroots movement. But as I look around in this political season,

[President] I want to know, where is this grassroots movement beyond the idea of simply electing a President.

[can't change alone] For a President cannot change Washington alone.

[supported] [others] He or she needs to be supported by others,

[believe in his/her values] by others who believe in his or her values.

[make change happen] They will make change happen.

[ ] They are what's necessary to make this change real.

[<2>] [values] So, what are these values?

[CHANGE] In my view, the most exciting part of the debate around change

[Washington works] is the idea of changing how Washington works.

[bribes] [influence] Changing the influence of money in Washington. Not an influence that comes through bribes,

[economy of influence] but an influence that is produced by the economy of influence

[skew] that money now has in Washington which skews public policy

[e.g.s] in extraordinarily important areas.

[25%] For example, against the recommendation of the vast majority of nutritionists,

the United States government's Food Nutrition Board now recommends

that your kids get 25% of their calories from sugars.

A change that occurred when the sugar industry happened to get just one more vote on that board.

Or think of the story told in this fantastic film

about changes in bankruptcy laws that have occurred in the last eight years,

[corporations: easier] making it easier for corporations to take advantage of bankruptcy

[individual: almost impossible] but almost impossible for lower middle-class individuals to take advantage of bankruptcy,

a change supported by major credit card companies pushing that idea through campaign contributions.

[by far the most terrifying film you will ever see] or think of the tragic delay of the United States taking responsibility for its contribution

[millions spent] to global warming because of the millions spent in producing junk science.

[junk science] [poilitical contributions] which complemented the political contributions

by oil companies to support the idea that no change to stop global warming was necessary.

[endless...] [no need repeat] The list here is endless. But there's no need for me to repeat it

[know] because this is the one thing that you know about how Washington works.

[corruption] [DC ] You know about this corruption in Washington.

[evil people] A corruption that doesn't come from evil people.

[good people] [working bad system] A corruption comes from good people working in a bad system.

[CHANGE] [PROGRESSIVE CHANGE] Now, in my view, change--the change that progressives should be pushing for--

[CHANGE THAT SYSTEM] is to change that system.

[CHANGE THE ETHICS] To change that ethic.

[CHANGE POWER OF $] To change the power of money in Washington.

[most important problem] Not because this is, in some sense, the most important problem,

[first problem] but because it is the first problem that has to be solved

if we're going to address these more fundamental problems later.

[family job liver] Just as an alcoholic might be losing his family, his job and his liver,

each problem--each alone--extraordinarily important.

[alcoholism] He won't solve any of those problems until he solves his alcoholism first

We need to recognize that the power of money in Washington is our own alcoholism

that must be solved before these other, more important problems ever get solved in the correct way.

[ ] [ <3> ]

[CHANGE] [HOW?] So, how could that change happen?

[coalition] In my view, this will take a coalition.

[ bipartisan coalition] a bipartisan coalition

[Members of Congress] [pledge] [3] of members of Congress who pledge to 3 ideas:

[1. No $$ from lobbyists/PACs] Number one, that they will individually not take any money from lobbyists or PACs.

[2. Ban "earmarks"] Number two, that they will vote ban earmarks in the Congressional appropriations process.

[3. Support public finance.] And number three, they will support public financing of campaigns.

[CHANGE CONGRESS] People who take the pledge to these three ideas become part of the "Change Congress" movement.

And over a number of election cycles, we can imagine the number of supporters

to this Change Congress movement growing dramatically.

[make real change] And as the numbers grow, it makes it possible to make real change in how Congress works

by making that change real in the political process.

So, this is the first thing I want to announce in this video today,

[CHANGE CONGRESS] the launching of this Change Congress movement

[ (exploratory) CHANGE CONGRESS] through the beginning of an exploratory committee

[http://change-congress.org ] that will be housed at this place on the Internet

that will begin to gather together supporters and ideas

for how this movement might be implemented.

[ ] [ <4> ]

Now, I announced the basic idea for this Change Congress movement at a speech I gave

billed as my last free cultural lecture at Stanford.

And after that lecture, someone came up to me and said,

["So why don't you DO something about it?"] Why don't you do something about it?

If it's so important, why don't you do something to bring it about?

[totally fair question] That's a totally fair question for a person who spends most of his life in the Ivory Tower.

[important] [do?] If, indeed, this is as important as I think it is, what can I do?

[many others] Many others have said there is one thing I can do.

[push] They've been pushing me to consider taking the step to enter Congress myself.

To run for an open seat that has just appeared in the District that I live in, the California 12th.

There's a movement on the Internet to draft me to this position in Congress.

A place on Facebook where more than 2,000 people have joined to urge me to consider this step.

So, with lots of fear and uncertainty, the second announcement I'm making today

[ 2: ] [considering] is that, indeed, I am considering this step []

[] to launch a project to become a member of Congress.

[ by (about) March 1 ] [decide] And by about March 1st, I will make that decision. I will decide whether this is the best way

to advance this movement to change Congress.

[but... ] But the one thing I want people who support this idea to recognize

[extraordinarily difficult race] is that this will be an extraordinarily difficult race.

[not just because] [insanely difficult message] and not just because the message here is so insanely difficult

to communicate to ordinary people in their ordinary lives,

[also] but also, because the number one person running for this position right now,

[Jackie Speier] [state senator - extraordinarily good] a woman named Jackie Speier, was an extraordinarily good State Senator.

[30 years] For 30 years, she has lived in public service. Indeed, so powerful has her service been,

[925 Jackie Speier] that a train has been named after her--the Jackie Speier Express.

So, nothing in this campaign would be a criticism of that extraordinary service by that extraoridnary public servant.

[but] But there is an important difference between Jackie Speier and me.

[different ethic] This is a difference in the ethic about how she runs her campaigns,

[takes $] [interests she regulates] for she takes money from the interests she regulates.

[chair Senate Insurance Committee >$250,000] As the chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, she accepted

over $250,000 dollars in contributions from insurance companies.

[wrong] It is exactly that kind of behavior that I think is wrong.

[ethic] [PROGRESSIVE CHANGE] and I would push for an ethic--an ethic that I believe progressives everywhere should support

that would oppose that kind of influence.

[maybe] [right] And so, maybe it is right that this campaign get launched

[challenge] [professional politician] by challenging precisely this kind of professional politician.

[evil] Not someone who is evil. Not someone who is corrupt in the traditional sense of that word.

["good"] [great] [old system] But, instead, someone who is good, indeed, someone who is great within that old system of politics.

[CHANGE] [old system] But change--the change we should be fighting for--is a change in that old system of politics.

[commitment] [different ethic] It is a commitment to this idea of a different ethic for politics.

[IF] So, if I decide to take this plunge to run for Congress in this cycle,

[commit:] [ (1) take the pledge] then I would commit, number 1, to take this pledge,

[CHANGE CONGRESS pledge] the Change Congress pledge.

[ (2) build national movement ] Number 2, I would commit to use every effort I've got to build this national movement

[CHANGE CONGRESS] to change Congress.

And number 3, I would offer something that not many politicians would offer:

[ (3) guarantee ] [2 terms] a guarantee that, if in 2 terms,

[fail] the people in my district believe I have failed in this effort to change Congress,

[resign] that I would resign my position.

[IF] So, if I run for Congress, those would be my 3 commitments.

[only if] But I will only be able to run for Congress

[ c yr sppt rn] if you show your support right now.

I need to see your support right now to understand if there is enough support for this idea

to make this campaign worth it. For it is very rare to have the chance

[times] to live in times where there is the opportunity for fundamental change.

[this is one] This is one of those times.

[fix DC] [now] We need to fix Washington now

[b4 fix] [anything else] before we can fix anything else that Washington's involved with.

[ ]

[FLICKR PHOTOS LICENSED CREDITS

Money - Tracy O Drunk - Spike55151 Me - Robert Scoble Ivory Tower - Soapbeard Jackie Speier - Nkibre]