Blayne Sucks

Lawrence Lessig, perhaps best known for his creation of Creative Commons licensing, is considering a run for Congress. His possible campaign website, and the somewhat related change congress website, talk about the kind of change that Congress needs. While the talk is good, I am not sure it’s anything new. People have known for many, many years that it’s probably not a good idea for congressmen to be accepting campaign donations from the industries they regulate, but that certainly hasn’t been the impetus needed for change.

There’s a part of me that wants to believe that Lessig could bring about this kind of change. I have to admit that I like a lot of his ideas. The Creative Commons licensing concept is an excellent example of the kind of thinking that I think we need in America. It is new, different and consumer friendly. I love the fact that he was willing to create a book through the use of a wiki and consider feedback from interested parties. So many politicians appear so disconnected from the people that elect them, but as the Draft Lessig movement shows, he has a lot of real people supporting him.

I’m not sure what to think. I don’t live in California, let alone in his district, but I do think I would vote for him if only to see what happens. It’s not that I’m not skeptical. Lessig is a former Harvard Law Professor and current Stanford Law Professor - those aren’t exactly “new and different” institutions which would bring sweeping change to Capital Hill. Plus, the sheer numbers of people that have tried to change congress and failed are staggering.

Another aspect about him that I think is rather interesting is his background in writing actual constitutions for former Soviet Republics. Very few politicians have actually written constitutions that were meant to really be used. It sort of reminds me of the saying that was written on Richard Feynman’s chalkboard at the time of his death:

What I cannot create, I do not understand.

I’m not sure politicians who haven’t tried to create a constitution for real people can understand what democracy is all about. Democracy is more than a piece of paper can ever really be. It is a culture. It is a mindset. It is a way of life. It is fragile. It is in danger. After the problems with the 2000 Presidential election, you would think that it would have been the number one priority to improve voting accuracy. After all, Congress should have significant motivation to make sure that elections are fair, right? Amazingly, here we are in 2008 and we are still working on a solution. There is obviously something wrong. Something that needs to change.

Change is a tall order though, particularly in Washington, which is a city where change goes to die. But there is something Obama-like about Lessig, an Obama supporter himself. If there is hope for change in Congress, perhaps people like Lawrence Lessig are the folks to do it.