RepresentUs
2 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2016–2021
5:29 · 479K views · Apr 19, 2016
A short RepresentUs explainer on how money corrupts American politics and what an anti-corruption act could do about it. It covers lobbying, super PACs and campaign finance, and pitches the group's proposed reforms. The video was later superseded by an updated version.
HN commenters cite it as a brief summary of the problem and the proposed Anti-Corruption Act solution when arguing for getting money out of politics.
4 comments from Hacker News
As an EX democrat, I'd say the Democrat party is broken too, the amount of election fraud, and corruption in the party makes it look like the Mafia. The whole system is broken and we need to pass the anti-corruption bill asap, if we're to have a chance to take back our country from wall street. this video EDIT: I say ex loosely.. I voted mostly dem. down the line, but wrote in Bernie Sanders, I'm not fond of Jill Stein something about her doesn't seem right. But I couldn't in good conscience do a protest vote for Trump, and I can never support Clinton, the most corrupt politician of the past 40 years.
The key is passing anti-corruption acts that get money out of politics: this video If it's illegal for lobbyists, corporations, etc to donate to politicians, then we can make politics more fair/ethical. This is a bipartisan group working to get these passed. Anti-corruption benefits everyone.
Incredibly frustrating. Represent.us is trying to do something about this. I find these videos to be helpful in briefly understanding the problem and their proposed solution 1: problem - [LINK] 2: their solution - this video
Keep in mind Marriage Equality in America came via the supreme court, not legislation (unlike New Zealand, Canada, et. al.) I'm not saying people shouldn't be active. Groups like The Anti-Corruption Act ( this video ) are doing a lot, not to mention the group that pushed Maine's ranked voting amendment. But the vote itself is not very useful. There are other forms of activism that are more worthwhile; those that seek to slowly and fundamentally change the system. Focusing on the left right paradigm will ultimately lead people to being angry at two parties that are essentially the same.