Rootstrikers: Reclaiming the Republic

Political reform: The system is broken, we need to fix it. It’s “the issue we have to solve before we get to fix any of the issues you care about” implores legal scholar Lawrence Lessig at his recent TED Talk. He’s talking specifically about the corruption of American politics caused by a dependence of the Congressional candidates on funding from the tiniest percentage of citizens (relevant funders comprise 0.05% of the American population according to his safe calculation), but it’s a message that extends far beyond the border of his beloved home country. Lessig is not the first to scrutinize the deterioration of the Republic, but his mix of eloquence, influence and organization seems to be trumping other groups that have remained under the radar. His project Rootstrikers, self-described as “the outsider's movement to get money out of politics and restore government to the people,” was created as a highly-interactive platform for individuals to come together and initiate change by way of volunteering, helping with campaigns, spreading the word online and in the streets. The site catalogues progress, connects members (who are encouraged to take The Anti-Corruption Pledge as a commitment to fighting the corrupting influence of political cash) and serves as an informational resource for those who are unaware of the implications of the current system. Not just another leftist agenda, Rootstrikers is nonpartisan, uniting the left and right under the shared dissatisfaction of an ineffective political structure.