Todd Pinkerton

I’ve been following Larry Lessig for several years now, and much like many of you I was… entranced by his writing and presentations. He has a speaking style that reminds me of an impassioned minister from my childhood, that of someone who cares deeply about what he is saying and can make his audience care too.

After an unsettling outcome in Eldred v. Ashcroft, Lessig is now turning his attention to the problem of corruption — of our political process, of policymakers, of drug salesmen and doctors — and has dedicated the next ten years of his life to this problem. To Lessig, the other problems (like copyright extension in Eldred v. Ashcroft) won’t be addressible until we remove the underlying corruption which plague our lives.

So that’s a bit of background to what I’m about to ask you to do — go now and watch the 1 hr Google video presentation of his latest creation, “The Corruption Lecture”. He claims its in alpha version, as I imagine it will be tweaked and modified extensively as he gets practice giving it again and again — but it deserves a look now, as it is.

Watch “Lessig on Corruption” on Google Video now.

This talk presses a lot of my buttons, both because of how it relates to current politics and issues, but also my own personal philosophy about accountability, social equality, the responsibilities of the individual, etc. I need to find a way to involve myself in the things I care about, lest I stand on the sidelines and go crazy. As Lessig says at the end of his story, fear of failure — even the certainty of it — is no excuse. If not us, then who?