At the core of our democracy, there is a basic inequality, not the inequality of wealth, though that is a problem, or the inequality of speech, though some think that a problem too, but the inequality of citizens. Lawrence Lessig More Quotes by Lawrence Lessig More Quotes From Lawrence Lessig Every generation welcomes the pirates from the last. Lawrence Lessig pirategenerationslasts I don't care if the Koch brothers or Soros spend their money to promote one candidate or another. I care about members of Congress spending 30%-70% of their time raising money from .05% of us. Change the way we fund elections and you change the corruption. Lawrence Lessig carebrotherway While appropriation art is critical to art, it's an ambiguous art form in the world of the Supreme Court. Lawrence Lessig formworldart It might be crazy to expect a high government official to speak the truth. It might be crazy to believe that government policy will be something more than the handmaiden of the most powerful interests. It might be crazy to argue that we should preserve a tradition that has been part of our tradition for most of our history -- free culture. If this is crazy, then let there be more crazies. Soon. Lawrence Lessig crazypowerfulbelieve I'm a lawyer. I make lawyers for a living. Lawrence Lessig lawyer There is a culture among academics to be obscure. If you're too clear, you can't be saying anything interesting. The issue isn't word length. The issue is a commitment to speaking in a way an audience can understand. Lawrence Lessig issuescommitmentinteresting It's fine to talk about politics with people you agree with. But it is rude to argue about politics with people you disagree with. Political discourse becomes isolated, and isolated discourse becomes more extreme. Lawrence Lessig rudepoliticalpeople There is nothing more dangerous than a government of the many controlled by the few. Lawrence Lessig controlleddangerousgovernment One great feature of modern society is the institutionalized respect we give to processes designed to destroy the past. Lawrence Lessig moderngivingpast I spend as little time with lawmakers as possible. Many are great. And more than you expect want real change. But they're not going to do anything till we, the outsiders, force them to adopt it. Lawrence Lessig realwantlittles While control is needed, and perfectly warranted, our bias should be clear up front: Monopolies are not justified by theory; they should be permitted only when justified by facts. If there is no solid basis for extending a certain monopoly protection, then we should not extend that protection. Lawrence Lessig protectionjustifiedfacts We have a massive system to regulate creativity. A massive system of lawyers regulating creativity as copyright law has expanded in unrecognizable forms, going from a regulation of publishing to a regulation of copying. Lawrence Lessig copyingcreativitylaw A time is marked not so much by ideas that are argued about as by ideas that are taken for granted. The character of an era hangs upon what needs no defense. Lawrence Lessig takencharacterideas We established a regime that left creativity unregulated. Now it was unregulated because copyright law only covered "printing." Copyright law did not control derivative work. And copyright law granted this protection for the limited time of 14 years. Lawrence Lessig creativitylawyears The current term of protection for software is the life of an author plus 70 years, or, if it's work-for-hire, a total of 95 years. This is a bastardization of the Constitution's requirement that copyright be for "limited times." Lawrence Lessig limited-timerequirementsyears In these times, the hardest task for social or political activists is to find a way to get people to wonder again about what we all believe is true. The challenge is to sow doubt. Lawrence Lessig politicalbelievepeople So uncritically do we accept the idea of property in ideas that we don't even notice how monstrous it is to deny ideas to a people who are dying without them. Lawrence Lessig dyingpeopleideas Show me why your regulation of culture is needed. Show me how it does good. And until you can show me both, keep your lawyers away. Lawrence Lessig regulationdoeculture Here's what we [Americans] need: a 30 second you tube video of some guy at a party constantly checking out everyone else at the party, while he pretends to be speaking to the other person. We're the other person. The guy are the politicians. And the distraction is the corruption: We need a Congress that can afford to talk to us. For at least one drink or so. Lawrence Lessig partyguyneeds My claim is that we should focus on the values of liberty... If there is not government to insist on those values, then who? ... The single unifying force should be that we govern ourselves. Lawrence Lessig libertyfocusgovernment
