I’ve read Lessig’s piece. There are lessons in it for us all, but I was very sad to read that Lessig thinks Obama has sunk into the ‘old ways’. Sad for me, sad for the world.

Anyway, Lessig’s concept of corruption appears to me to be something like ‘data corruption’ – what happens when a hard disk gets too close to a magnate. Everything becomes confused and illegible. The malaise Lessig identifies seems to afflict modern politics worldwide. The recent election of the extreme right in Holland, in my opinion, reflects not so much that society has gone awry, so much as our leaders who are no longer leading. Other interests have corrupted, in Lessig’s sense, what these people should be all about – making their countries better places for future generations, and managing crises and change efficiently. The immigrant situation needs to be managed, not attacked.

Politics in Britain went rotten a good few years ago, with Blair’s colourful but empty style being part of the downward spiral. Now there are few, if any, creditable politicians in the UK.

There is talk of Sarkozy being something of an empty vessel in France, and then we come to Italy. There is not much lobbying in Italy, but big business does interfere, as does the Vatican, and most of Italy’s politicians seem to have forgotten that they should be representing the people, and setting a good example. Italy’s younger generations have been receiving very confused,or should one say ‘corrupt’ signals from those who purport to be their leaders.

There is some serious rot in society today throughout the world, and I fear that things will become worse before they get better. I hope that ‘get worse’ does not mean wiping out half of the world’s population, but I fear this could be the case, sooner or later.

The status quo is accepted by voters far too readily. If I had my way, which I won’t, I’m small fry, I’d count the non-voting population, and if the number of non-voters exceeds those who vote, no party receives the mandate of the people. Then the parties would be forced to present new, more appetising, candidates – people who are both idealists at heart, and are prepared to put the time in to sorting out what is becoming an increasingly large pile of detritus sitting under many nations’ living room carpets.

Revolution is a strong word to use, but sometimes it is the only way to bring about real change. And revolutions do not necessarily have to be bloody affairs.

Thanks for pointing me towards Lessig’s article. If I were American, and he stood for president, he’d get my vote.

Kind regards,

Alex

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100222/lessig

It’s by Larry Lessig, Harvard law professor and founder of Creative Commons, and I think it answers just about every one of the points you bring up. It also illustrates why I think Italian notions of “corruption” are terribly antiquated and quaint. Read it, or at least the first half, where Lessig sets forth the problems.

The most telling sound byte from the article, I think:

“Since the time of Rome, historians have taught that while corruption is a part of every society, the only truly dangerous corruption comes when the society has lost any sense of shame. Washington has lost its sense of shame.”

I’m sorry for my bad English.
I will continue to read you
F

I guess I’m going to have to head on over to Imperia pretty soon! Well, the warm weather seems to be on its way!

If you do make it to one of the Naples’ pizzeria, do let us know how you got on! And that book should keep pizza freaks happy for years!

Buona pizza!

Alex