I Speak as a Citizen of the World

Here’s the “thought for today” from Wordsmith.org:

We are on the cusp of this time where I can say, “I speak as a citizen of the world” without others saying, “God, what a nut.” -Lawrence Lessig, professor and activist (b. 3 Jun 1961)

Lessig, law professor at Harvard, is best know for his efforts in campaign finance reform, driven by his observation that American lawmakers’ sole interests are satisfying the wishes of their largest campaign donors, and literally zero percent on the wishes of their constituents.  This was a finding from an exhaustive study on the subject conducted by Princeton University, which showed that there was no correlation whatsoever between what constituents wanted and how their elected representatives behaved.

If you ask how it’s possible that 89% of Americans are demanding mandatory background checks for prospective gun owners, and that this subject cannot even be discussed in Congress, there’s your answer.

The quote Lessig provides above is equivalent to the one I use in the signature of my emails: “Few are the giants of the soul who actually feel that the human race is their family circle.” – Freya Stark, explorer and writer (1893-1993)

Now, Lessig says that we’re “on the cusp” of this moment. I’d like to think that’s true, but given the state of the planet, does that seem real?

In the United States, we’re putting children in cages at the southern border, and, in our schools, we’re banning the books that suggest our common humanity.

Most of the countries on Earth are governed by authoritarians, and, in 2020, nearly 75 percent of the world’s population lived under a government that saw its democracy score decline in the past year.

Even many of the countries that we regard as “free” have hostile relations with one or more other countries.

Whether this citizen of the world phenomenon is actually happening or not is hard to untangle, but one thing’s sure: without people like Lawrence Lessig, it would be completely impossible.