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We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim | Lawrence Lessig

TED · talk · Watch on YouTube

US politics & electionsFree speech, censorship & civil liberties

What it is

In this TED talk, Lawrence Lessig argues that American politics is corrupted by Congress's dependence on funding from a tiny fraction of citizens. He uses rapid-fire visuals and calls for a bipartisan push to reclaim the Republic.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN cites it repeatedly as the root-cause argument that money in politics must be fixed before other issues, and as background for his Mayday PAC.

  • 8 people recommended it
  • 9 different months
  • 3 strong recommendations
  • first 2013, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “But you should better watch this one, I don't know if you know Lessig (I think, he is a real patriot)”

    Lessig on money in politics.

    PythonicAlpha, 2014-01 · Strong recommendation · in “Obama’s Changes to Government Surveillance”

  2. “Support Lawrence Lessig in his efforts to solve this root problem!”

    Root cause of political problems is money in politics.

    tim_hutton, 2015-01 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: What can we do to show we don't support the response to Aaron Swartz?”

  3. “Larry Lessig has been right all along when he said this needs to be fixed before anything else [1].”

    Lessig says fix money in politics first.

    mtgx, 2017-01 · Strong recommendation · in “What I Wish I'd Known About Equity Before Joining a Unicorn”

  4. “America's government is so corrupt it is no longer democratic. Watch this video”

    Argues US government corruption.

    lifeguard, 2013-07 · Recommendation · in “Prism Break”

  5. “Larry Lessig has a great book on this”

    Lessig's TED talk on money in politics.

    liscovich, 2013-07 · Recommendation · in “The entire US Code is now online in XML”

  6. “This TED talk from Lessig gives more background”

    Background on Mayday campaign and financial incentives.

    slantedview, 2014-05 · Recommendation · in “The Launch of the Mayday Citizens' SuperPAC”

  7. “A Ted Talk by Harvard Law professor and Copyright Law reform advocate Lawrence Lessig on the topic”

    Lessig talk on the topic of lobbying influence.

    hayst4ck, 2023-02 · Recommendation · in “Big Tech lobbyist language made it verbatim into NY’s hedged repair bill”

  8. “This TED lecture[0] is only 18 minutes long and it offers rather a chilling perspective on any sensible reform.”

    Short 18-minute lecture with chilling perspective on reform.

    maratc, 2026-05 · Recommendation · in “Steve Wozniak cheered after telling students they have AI – actual intelligence”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: lawrence lessig, campaign finance, political corruption, lobbying, democracy reform

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