Aaron Swartz was a good friend of the Internet, but a great one of Larry Lessig. We’ve heard of Larry’s crusade to get corruption out of politics by cleaning up campaign financing. But his ideas and actions were quite close to the mission that drove Aaron to do the one act that would cost him everything…at the hands of the US government. This speech by Larry is one of the best (if not the best) that I’ve heard from him. He not only chose to celebrate Aaron’s life and work (which was much to short), but to give us all a challenge to live up to the path that Aaron had embarked upon for more than half of his life.
The title of this post is a German phrase that Larry had used: Die Andersdenkenden and it means those who think differently. We all know what this phrase means by associating it with the famous Apple commercial, and yet we now see the consequences of being one of those people when we look at the consequences suffered by those who choose this path. Aaron was one in a long line of living and departed free thinkers who decided that the hard path was the more worthwhile one.
Larry gave us four laws, but one in particular jumps out as the driving force behind the spirit of those who think differently: FIX obliviousness. So many choose to walk the straight and narrow, choosing to ignore the injustice that happens around us on a daily basis. Can we afford to continue to just let status quo continue? Look around. Better yet, check to see if it makes you feel ill. If it does, then you have your answer.
Aaron’s Law is not only a law being put forth by Rep. Zoe Lofgren (a staunch defender of our digital domain), but it’s also a reminder of how we need to live our lives once we’ve contemplated this talk.
How will you?
– thanks to BoingBoing, Larry Lessig, and most of all Aaron for making us not only think, but do
