Represent Us with Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Silver give us
a short film “Unbreaking America: Solving the Corruption Crisis” directed by M.
J. Delaney (13 minutes).
The two hosts explain why normal political participation
gives average votes very little say in policies that get passed. There are several problems: Gerrymandering, a partisan duopoly, and elimination
systems that require politicians to raise astronomical amounts of money from
special interests to win, which feeds the paid lobbying (K Street in
Washington) industry.
There are three “lines” in the film. One is a flat line of zero slope showing that
the level of popular support for any policy (say Medicare for all) has almost
no effect on whether it passes. The
other is that national changes occur when enough states make their
changes. Lawrence cited both interracial
marriage and then same-sex marriage as examples of this process. The third line is user participation.
The ending of the film does suggest starting a movement,
knocking on doors, and the like. But the underlying ideas are important. The group “Better Angels” comes to mind. It
is hosting a closed viewing party premiere May 17.
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