Screaming Penguin - Source Does Matter

Larry Lessig has this.. damned near stirring... account of a meeting about IP in Brazil:

I walked out of my constitutional law class, climbed into a car to go to a plane to fly to Chicago to fly to Sao Paolo to fly to Porto Alegre to get into a car to come to this. Brazil is hosting the World Social Forum, and Barlow and I will be on a panel with Manuel Castells and Gilberto Gil on Saturday. But Thursday night, we visited the Youth Camp, which in part this year is devoted to demonstrating and developing tools to support free software and free culture.

We arrived in the middle of a concert. Gil was asked to speak. As he went to the mic, the tent fell silent. Hundreds were packed into a tiny space. Gil began to describe the work of the Lula government to support free software, and free culture, when a debate broke out. I don't speak Portuguese, but a Brazilian who spoke English translated for Barlow and me. The kid was arguing with Gil about free radio. Two minutes into the exchange, about 8 masked protesters climbed onto chairs on one side of the tent, and held posters demanding free radio. A huge argument exploded, with the Minister (Gil) engaging many people directly, and others stepping in to add other perspectives. After about 20 minutes, the argument stopped. The band played again, and then Gil was asked to perform. For about another twenty minutes, this most extraordinary performer sang the music he's been writing since the 1960s, while the whole audience (save Barlow and I) sang along. When the concert was over, Barlow, Gil and I were led out of the tent. It was practically impossible to move, as hundreds begged Gil for autographs, or posed for pictures. At each step, someone had an argument. At each step, Gil stopped to engage. Even after Gil was in the car, some kid rapped on the window, yelling yet another abusive argument. Gil, with the patience of a saint, opened the window, and argued some more.

This was a scene that was astonishing on a million levels. I've seen rallies for free software in many placed around the world. I've never seen anything like this. There were geeks, to be sure. But not many. The mix was broad-based and young. They cheered free software as if it were a candidate for President.

But more striking still was just the dynamic of this democracy. Barlow captured the picture at the top, which in a sense captures it all. Here's a Minister of the government, face to face with supporters, and opponents. He speaks, people protest, and he engages their protest. Passionately and directly, he stands at their level. There is no distance. There is no "free speech zone." Or rather, Brazil is the free speech zone. Gil practices zone rules.

Even after the speech was over, the argument continues. At no point is there "protection"; at every point, there is just connection. This is the rockstar who became a politician, who became a politician as a rockstar.

I remember reading about Jefferson's complaints about the early White House. Ordinary people would knock on the door, and demand to see the President. Often they did. The presumption of that democracy lives in a sense here. And you never quite see how far from that presumption our democracy has become until you see it, live, here. "This is what democracy looks like." Or at least, a democracy where the leaders can stand packed in the middle of a crowd, with protesters yelling angry criticism yet without "security" silencing the noise. No guns, no men in black uniform, no panic, and plenty of press. Just imagine.

Lessig Blog source.

You know, I understand that Bill Clinton is still a fairly polarizing character, but I think one of the things people forget about Clinton's "style" was the Town Hall meeting. He was willing to engage people directly, and even answer their questions in a direct and fair manner. Even watching the "Town Hall-style" debate this year, it was pretty obvious that neither Kerry nor Bush are really geared for that kind of engagement with the people. Al Gore, I think, actually enjoys engaging people -- as a Senator from Tenn he made appearances at User's Groups and community groups all the time and actually had real discussion -- but that "professorial" sense about him always came out, and I guess that turns a large segment of the population off.

The problem with our "Democracy" is it is a lot more "Demo" than "cracy". The primary role of a Secretary is to sell the product, not understand and manage policy. Former EPA secretary and newly published Bush-bashing author Christine Todd Whittman appeared on the Al Franken show. To her credit, she sat there and got grilled a lot harder than I would have expected and never let it shake her and never broke her story. Her story, however, was bullshit. The fact of the matter is, she did her job and sold the administration line on environmental policy, even when she knew it was bullshit. She still won't own up to resigning in protest, but everyone still knows what the score is. Even from the GOP side of the political arguement, however, people like Whittman and O'Neil are 'crats. They are wonks who understand policy and see their job as an administrator as being one of doing what is best for the country, not the ideology. It is the reason why people who really did their jobs well in office -- Rubin or Greenspan come to mind -- have very few detractors on either side of the line. It seems to me, however, the days of putting people like that in office are long since past.