Republic, Lost

How Money Corrupts Congress - and a Plan to Stop It

By: Lawrence Lessig

Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig

In an era of ballooning corporate campaign expenditures, unleashed by the Supreme Court in Citizens United, trust in our government is at an all time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress - and that our Republic has been lost.

Using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left, Republic, Lost not only makes clear how the economy of influence defeats the will of the people, but offers cogent strategies to correct our course - from a constitutional convention to a Regent Presidency.

A onetime friend of Barack Obama, Lessig, a professor of law at Harvard, is as critical of the president and the Democratic Party as he is of Republicans. Both have allowed the core institution of our democracy to become little more than a shill for the most powerful moneyed interests in our Republic.

America may be divided, argues Lessig, but we must recognize that corruption is our common enemy, and we must find a way to fight against it.

©2011 Lawrence Lessig (P)2011 Hachette Audio

WAKE UP AMERICA

Lawrence Lessig is a professor of law at Harvard Law School. In “Republic, Lost” Lessig crystallizes the reasons for American apathy about voting in general elections; i.e. the state of America’s current “moneyocracy” makes a vote hardly worth exercising. Wake up America.

Though one appreciates Lessig’s critical evaluation of the American election system, his ivory tower solutions only reinforce voter apathy. Like the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, Lessig’s book is mired in a fantasy. Neither the inchoate “Occupy” movement nor Lessig’s intellectual exercise can change the inborn cause of American inequality; i.e., pursuit of money, power, and prestige, the unchanging nature of humankind.

Rights inherent in the freedom of American capitalism reward greed and denigrate or ignore altruism. The burgeoning gap between rich and poor aggravates and insures an American aristocracy of wealth. As long as corporations continue to endorse executive pay at 50 to 500 times the income of average employees, money will continue to distort democratic policy. Lessig presents the idea of paying legislators higher salaries to blunt corruption. To suggest, which Lessig does, paying a million dollars a year to a congressman to mitigate undue influence by corporations will only raise the stakes for moneyed interest’s distortion of public policy; not to mention, increase the chasm between haves and have-nots.

Capitalism is not a perfect system and people like Lessig are important because they reveal those imperfections. Americans are frustrated with politicians and the current political environment. People like Lessig and Obama give reason for hope that change for the better will come; never fast enough but always incrementally forward.

A profoundly important book. A must read.

For anyone that is a lover of the American Republic, this is a must read book.

My only gripe: at times there are some weirdness in the sound production, but Lessig's reading is clear and persuasive.

Please Read this Book

Lessig does a fantastic job in this book of making the complex issues surrounding our broken campaign finance system understandable for the common person. I truly hope (yet am very doubtful) enough people read this book and educate themselves so we can push for real change. Otherwise our republic is doomed.

Required Listening

This book should be required reading (listening) for all Americans of all political persuasions. It is at the top of my list of nonfiction books read or listened to in 2011. Lessig's reading is passionate. His arguments and examples are convincing. You do not have to agree with every argument to be convinced of the basic conclusion of the book--that our government has been corrupted and stolen from the people by large corporate financial interests. Listen to the book and then join and become active in Rootstrikers or one of the several other organizations he lists.

This book should be required reading

What did you like about this audiobook?

The author not only explains what has gone wrong in the US government but how we got here and offers sensible (if long view) solution(s). Well written and engaging. Regardless of your political views if you care about our country you need to read this book. In fact it should be required in high school civics classes.

Very important read, but drags a bit

I think Lessig is a brilliant speaker, but a so-so narrator. Without visuals to go with his spoken word, this listen tends to drag a bit here and there as he labors to make his points, though in the end the points are profoundly important to every American regardless of party affiliation. Ignore at your own peril, people.

Both Right and Left need this book

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

This is a vital book for the PEOPLE to read and hear. It is OUR government that has been taken from us. I'm not 100% sure of Mr. Lessig's proposed fixes, but this issue should be the #1 topic on the mind of all voters. Mr. Lessig does a compelling job convincing the listener of this fact.

Everyone should read this book!

Great material and some good ideas that I would like to help implement. This should be taught in schools

The most important book I've read in years.

What did you love best about Republic, Lost?

Lessig craftily and compellingly uncovers what is the true problem of our time as Americans, and offers up what may be done to save the nation. I've passed this book on to all my friends... you will want to as well. This is a book for all Americans - young and old, conservative, liberal, socialist, or libertarian, city dwellers, country folk, tea partier or occupier - if you are a person who is dissatisfied and looking for progress in America, this is the book for you. If you are not dissatisfied, then this book is really, really, extra super so much the book for you.

For those interested, Lessig does a great introduction to this book on YouTube as part of Google's lecture series.

A must read!

I loved it! some of the examples seem like overkill. That could be because the claims they support seem pretty intuitive and obvious to me. it's hard to think of a more important topic in politics, especially right now. I think everyone could benefit from reading this book.