Sense

Jump to Comments

I have to pay homage to Larry Lessig, he is an inspiration as a relentless activist that has the right appreciation of current world issues.  His current field of study and action,  the influence of money in political systems and/or corruption constitutes what may very well be one of the most critical flaws in contemporary western societies, and Dr. Lessig’s political actions could start a dialog that may revive trust and interest in a struggling public sector.

That being said I believe that it is necessary to observe that the focus taken in Dr. Lessig’s work is feeble and like the Creative Commons “movement” lacks a well grounded criticism and line of action against the status quo, it may very well be a simmered down version of a revolt or a rethorical revolution that due to it’s political “correctness” becomes a threat to real political change.

But before I continue disserting on Lessig’s work I would like to give a little background information about myself and my perception on corruption.

I am mexican and thus corruption is a reality that I must deal with on a daily basis, here corruption or “the influence of money” is something that we have been taught to live with and in most cases admire or respect “el que no tranza no avanza” (he who does not cheat does not  move forward) is a common saying here, we learn since a very young age that everything and everyone has a price, running a red light may cost you 5 dollars and even murder, while more expensive, also has a price tag.

But this is not because mexicans are “uncivilized”, no, Mexico has had the dreadful misfortune of historically being misrepresented by it’s political and socio-economical paradigms that have historically made ill attempts to treat Mexico as a nation with a homogeneous culture that can be “framed” under a set of norms that are abstract enough to comprehend the intricacies of our extremely diverse backgrounds.  But the truth that underlies our reality is that not all norms can apply unless enforced by violence or settled informally thru a compromise.

That is a constant in our history, a double standard by which we have lived and died, you keep the appearance of legality while their is a an unwritten settlement that brings some sense of harmony, you can appreciate this in all of our major historical events, from our independence (where we formally rose against the french and not the spaniards), Reforma War, Revolution, the settlement of a party dictatorship of the “institutionalized” revolution,  and even to the “Zapatista” revolution, but the most flagrant example comes in the embodiment of a “legitimate” presidency currently being led by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, but that is another subject .

I have learned thru experience that corruption is not only a matter of money and its influence, it is a trait of a system.  Money does not corrupt the perfection state, it simply helps reach a compromise where formality requires a different outcome.   The truth of the matter is that a system becomes corrupt when it does not represent the values it was intended to uphold, when it doesn’t reach the objectives it was set out to attain, it is in the case of Mexico the lack of representation and acknowledment of the reality of Mexico.

So I would ask the reader:  Isn’t this the case in any country?

There is more to corruption than just influence.  Sure, money is regularly involved, but in a political system money is not the main input, there are compromises, wars and mainly human values, and if you are to value a system by objective standards “input” is a key factor.

And here lies the heart of my thesis and the center of criticism towards Dr. Lessig’s “movement”.  He is prompt to point out that problem of an alcoholic is not his liver, his desegregated family and finances, he claims that the problem is the alcoholism instead, but I go a little further on my appreciation of the problem, it is not alcoholism that is the root of his problems, it is the experiences, fears, traumas and overall emotional a personal instability that made him prone to be an alcoholic that must be handled before he can say he has found a cure.

My appreciation of corruption (in the political, economical and spiritual fields) is that western systems themselves have a fundamental flaw, and it derives from the triumph of individualist values over our social nature, we are in fact desegregated, torn apart, and simply taken out of our natural context.

Our fundamental flaw derives from the foundations of our political systems, it’s values were enthroned in the context of the 18th century a moment in history when humanity needed to understand the purpose of  individual worth and sphere of liberty, but in the midst of this endevour we set a direction that has shaped our reality, and is to my understanding the main cause of our political apathy and social unawareness.

But here comes the critical question: what needs to be done?

To be honest I truly believe that Dr. Lessig is in the right path, he is setting a pace opening a discussion that will without a doubt result in positive criticisms and actions.  But we have to go further and revise our foundations, we have to asks ourselves if we are going to keep on believing in the liminal stages set forth by the extremely obnoxious “enlightened thinkers”  we have to revise Rousseau, Adam Smith,  Hobbes and all of the master minds that shaped the structure of our political systems.

There is one critical stance that must be taken: We have to come to realize that our actions have an effect that reaches more than our own state of being, we are social creatures that are ill equiped to survive the hostile environments set by nature, but nature itself gave us the inmensely powerfull gift of social behaviour.

With this I hope to contribute with this discussion and maybe influence those close to me.