Money is corrupting our democracy. Our country's founders intended our government to be dependent upon the people alone—but today, lawmakers spend up to 70% of their time raising money for their reelection campaigns. In 2010, it cost an average of $8.5 million to win a Senate seat. Barack Obama is expected to spend over $1 billion on his reelection campaign. Where do we think this money comes from?
We need a democracy that's dependent on the people, not the funders. Government won't change itself. We need a grassroots movement to fight the corrupting influence of money in politics.
Thoreau wrote, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." The root of our political evils is money. Our goal is to build a network of rootstrikers—to talk about this issue, clearly identify the problem, and work together towards practical reforms.
8 April, 2011: This video is of Lessig's keynote at the National Conference for Media Reform in Boston, MA, calling for rootstrikers. Take action at rootstrikers.org