• Republic, Lost

  • How Money Corrupts Congress - and a Plan to Stop It
  • By: Lawrence Lessig
  • Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig
  • Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (582 ratings)

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Republic, Lost  By  cover art

Republic, Lost

By: Lawrence Lessig
Narrated by: Lawrence Lessig
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Publisher's summary

In an era of ballooning corporate campaign expenditures, unleashed by the Supreme Court in Citizens United, trust in our government is at an all time low. More than ever before, Americans believe that money buys results in Congress - and that our Republic has been lost.

Using examples that resonate as powerfully on the Right as on the Left, Republic, Lost not only makes clear how the economy of influence defeats the will of the people, but offers cogent strategies to correct our course - from a constitutional convention to a Regent Presidency.

A onetime friend of Barack Obama, Lessig, a professor of law at Harvard, is as critical of the president and the Democratic Party as he is of Republicans. Both have allowed the core institution of our democracy to become little more than a shill for the most powerful moneyed interests in our Republic.

America may be divided, argues Lessig, but we must recognize that corruption is our common enemy, and we must find a way to fight against it.

©2011 Lawrence Lessig (P)2011 Hachette Audio

What listeners say about Republic, Lost

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

How sad but really true !

A well written book on the reason why our government is so dysfunctional. If your usual answer is to always blame the opposing political party and never your own, you will dislike this book. He does make suggestions how to try to overcome the corruption of government by money. However it seems to me based on the many years of corruption leading up to this past years (2016) presidentional campaign that both major political parties have become so corrupted and its backers so power hungry that I have lost hope that the ellectorate is able to see that voting for either party is voting for ever growing corruption in our government.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Sad but true

Until the money is out of politics we have lost the Republic. And until we the people wake up it will stay that way.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A well thought out look at corruption in America

These are good people forced to do what they can in a terrible system. That's the message I picked up from this book and it was strangely heartening. Far from demonizing any one political viewpoint or depicting all law-makers as greedy, self-absorbed, cheats and liars, Lessig instead describes a system where any person, regardless of intentions, will be forced to play the same terrible game that has been played up until now.

Perhaps the only real downside of this book is that the 'plan to stop it part' is, by his own admission, is improbable. On the other hand, it's a plan and it's the best I've heard so far.

Highly recommended for anyone trying to understand why our government acts the way it does.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

We need another constitutional convention soon!

Simple and precise unwinding of the complete breakdown of our election, congressional, lobbying and ethical systems and how broke they are. Sadly the constitutional convention is all that is left to correct our broken system.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Story is worth the narration

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This purchase was because Dan Carlin (if you don't know him you should Google it) was going to have Lawrence Lessing on his podcast and I wanted to get a good understanding of his thoughs before the interview. I would recommend this book to people who want to know how our system can be so corrupt even though decent people make up the majority of the system.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Republic, Lost?

His description on how the presence of money in the wrong place is enough to bring doubt and corruption without there necessarily being corruption. Also, the Author showed how well intentioned people who are elected to position can follow through with campaign promises, but that what proportion of their time they spend to each campaign issue is skewed heavily to the amount of money in the system interested in that issue.

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

The Author read the title himself. In some cases this can be good as the author should know the tones he/she is trying to convee. I find that this works much better in fiction. The Author is objiously knowledgable, but his reading skills seemed to introduce pauses in very strange places (I did not see the text of this book so for all I know there are many strangley placed commas).

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

This book could make a good documentary, but not a good movie. As a documentary it would just keep the name of the book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read if you are into politics

Would you listen to Republic, Lost again? Why?

Maybe. I got the jist of it and would go back to some sections I noted, but not the whole book over again. It gets pretty dry in parts towards the end.

Who was your favorite character and why?

No characters - only problems and possible solutions.

Have you listened to any of Lawrence Lessig’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First listen.

If you could give Republic, Lost a new subtitle, what would it be?

Ordinary people doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons in DC

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Outstanding Book on Economics and Politics

Would you listen to Republic, Lost again? Why?

Yes. Does a great job identifying and explaining the current problems within our political system and the history of how we got here.

What about Lawrence Lessig’s performance did you like?

Spoken like a true professor.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No extreme reaction.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

The most important book I've read in years.

What did you love best about Republic, Lost?

Lessig craftily and compellingly uncovers what is the true problem of our time as Americans, and offers up what may be done to save the nation. I've passed this book on to all my friends... you will want to as well. This is a book for all Americans - young and old, conservative, liberal, socialist, or libertarian, city dwellers, country folk, tea partier or occupier - if you are a person who is dissatisfied and looking for progress in America, this is the book for you. If you are not dissatisfied, then this book is really, really, extra super so much the book for you.

For those interested, Lessig does a great introduction to this book on YouTube as part of Google's lecture series.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Solid and convincing, but it drags a bit...

What did you love best about Republic, Lost?

How clear the author makes the case that our government is corrupt.

Which character – as performed by Lawrence Lessig – was your favorite?

n/a

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Cry.

Any additional comments?

The author spends so much time convincing us that there's a problem that he might have spent his time better getting to the point of presenting his solutions.

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    4 out of 5 stars

Every VOTER must read this!!

If you could sum up Republic, Lost in three words, what would they be?

This is the truth how Congress works. (I was was a Congressional staffer for 30 years.)

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