“How do we get people angry enough to create change?”
That was the question Harvard law professor and activist Lawrence Lessig posed to the audience following a screening of the documentary Casino Jack: The United States of Money. After watching super lobbyist Jack Abramoff's story unfold on screen, it’s clear that showing people this powerful film is one way to get them angry and ready for action.
Directed by Alex Gibney, Casino Jack focuses on Abramoff and the corruptive nature of money and influence in politics. Abramoff pled guilty in 2006 to three criminal felony counts related to the defrauding of Indian tribes, bringing to light a web of politicians, lobbyists, and political strategists entangled in moneymaking schemes that bilked innocent people and put the very concept of American democracy at risk.
The movie is an extraordinary wake-up call to the prevalence of pay-to-play politics and the extent that our government is up for sale. Fact is, a politician can’t get elected without lots of money. And the surest way to get lots of money is to cooperate with lobbyists.
Casino Jack explains the ins and outs of the system and how Abramoff was able to manipulate it. The film speaks volumes about the need for reform.
After the screeing, Professor Lessig was joined by director Alex Gibney, Rock the Vote President Heather Smith, and reporter Tom Robbins. Each panelist expressed dismay at the current political process, but offered that films like Casino Jack were a way to start the necessary discussions to create change.
Alex Gibney put it frankly: “We’re headed to the shoals. The costs of campaigns are rising, and we’re going to lose our democracy.”
Lessig chimed in with a similar sentiment: “[Our democracy] has never been this bad and the threats [environment, health care etc...] are very bad. We have the conditions to motivate.”
The panelists offered practical things that everyone can do to help stop the selling of our government:
- Keep voting.
- Call your congressperson.
- Tell the story of Casino Jack to others, encourage them to see the movie.
- Visit Lessig’s Fix Congess First website and support the Fair Elections Now Act.
- Follow the money and connect the dots—we need to solve this issue before we can even think about solving others.
Below are trailers for Casino Jack and for Lessig’s Fix Congress campaign, along with links to support The Fair Elections Now Act and to follow the money here at TakePart.
Participant Media, the parent company of TakePart.com, has a financial investment in the film Casino Jack and the United States of Money, and is producing the social action campaign for the film.
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