Larry Lessig Reaches Funding Goal and Is Running For President

LetterRip writes: Lessig has met his funding goal of one million dollars, and thus is committed to run for President. ABC reports: "After exceeding his $1 million crowd-funding goal, Harvard Law School professor Larry Lessig announced today on “This Week” that he is running for president. 'I think I'm running to get people to acknowledge the elephant in the room,' he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. 'We have to recognize -- we have a government that does not work. The stalemate, partisan platform of American politics in Washington right now doesn't work.'”

Comments

How could it possibly "work" for 300M people?

[trout007]

There is no way you can effectively centrally plan for a country of 300M people. People keep saying we should be more like Europe and I agree. There are very few decisions made by the EU. Most of the decisions are made by the member States. Let's try that. One state could be very capitalistic but with a big welfare state like the Nordic countries. Others could be more socialist like the French. Some can be crazy libertarian gun and gold nuts like the Swiss.

Re:How could it possibly "work" for 300M people?

[Kohath]

Greed is one thing that can impact others negatively including the push for big government.

"Greed" can't impact others. Greed is an implication and/or a motive. Motives without actions impact self only.

An action may impact others. But an action motivated by greed has the same impact on others as the same action motivated by love or unmotated at all, by accident.

In fact, a greedy tormentor can be bribed or bought, whereas do-gooders who'd cause you the same harm are much more dangerous.

C.S. Lewis said it best:

Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth. This very kindness stings with intolerable insult. To be "cured" against one's will and cured of states which we may not regard as disease is to be put on a level of those who have not yet reached the age of reason or those who never will; to be classed with infants, imbeciles, and domestic animals

Re:Giving it the old "college try" eh?

[ShanghaiBill]

There are a lot of problems with what he is doing. If he runs as an independent, he will siphon votes from the Democrat, and help the Republican win. His only real issue is "campaign finance". To fix that, he would need to either amend the constitution, or replace a few Supreme Court justices. That is not something he can "do quickly and then resign". There is also little evidence that campaign finance is at the root of our problems. Sure, a candidate needs a certain threshold of funding to be competitive, but after that, more money makes little difference. In 2012, nearly everyone the Koch Brothers backed, lost. Money cannot just buy elections. The voters are not that stupid. But don't take my word for it: Go ask President Romney, Governor Whitman or Senator Fiorina.

Re:Giving it the old "college try" eh?

[Pikoro]

In Japan, people running for office aren't allowed to use radio or tv to campaign. They are essentially limited to posters and driving around and actually meeting the voters. Granted, trucks driving around in the morning and evening during election times with loudspeakers blaring is fairly annoying for a few days, but you don't get this kind of spending that they have in the USA. It seems like the news reports it as a race to see who can raise the most funds. "So and so has raised 2 billion dollars whereas so and so #2 has only raised 500 million. Looks like candidate #1 is going to win". It's sickening.