[javajosh]

The urge to do more and explore exists, but it is not the centralized monolith it once was, nor does it occupy the mainstream imagination like it once did. In fact, I believe that the internet has destroyed the very notion of "mainstream". Culture is reduced to is lowest common denominator: money-mediated commerce. Capital does battle with itself in the infospace to manufacture consent, and capital's tools are so efficient now that nothing can battle capital itself. The talented individual dreamer can sometimes find refuge in the whim of philanthropy, or occasionally a YouTube channel. But big, world-changing projects funded by government require a cultural coherence that is incompatible with capital's demonstrated effect. The culture has lost a coherent notion of virtue, and that means the virtuous are at risk if they do not do what is expected of them, which is to plug in to the machine and stay plugged in or die.

The Great Change we need is to revitalize free speech. Speech should indeed be free, and paid-for speech should be made illegal. Or, if that is too radical, paid-for speech should require specific consent. No more lawyers and pundits paid to install their jaundiced opinions into weak-minds. No more advertisers paid to inflame greed and envy. It would be a world where, if you hear speech, you can be assured someone said it of their own accord, without a profit motive. In that world, speech would be truly free.

[20after4]

This sounds wonderful. What is step 1?

It seems overwhelmingly difficult to make real progress towards anything like this with so much money/power entrenched behind the status quo.

[javajosh]

The idea is just a seed. To make it grow, first you must articulate it, and share it, and - this is important - try to approximate it in your own life. Eat your own dogfood, so to speak. It means ignoring paid-for speech in all mediums in your own life. Find out how it feels, what the trade-offs are. It will also highlight the ambiguities of the rule, something to keep in mind when articulating an actual law (which should be short, like the first 10 amendments.)

Changing the law within current bounds will be difficult, because of money. However I believe that the body politic is ready for extreme change, and going against vested interests would be a selling point, rather than a weakness. There should be an organization with a good name, a catch phrase, a logo, a hashtag, akin to, for example, the FSF or EFF, but for speech in general. "Money doesn't speak!" for example. "Hush, money!" is a fun pun. "Get capital out of the capitol!" It's not clear if this could be done at a local level, since opponents can challenge such laws in court and probably win. It may require an actual amendment. Note that, as a happy side-effect, such an amendment would immediately obviate Citizen's United.