Whatever your take on the recent revelations about government spying on our phone calls and Internet activity, there's no denying that Big Brother is bigger and less brotherly than we thought. What's the resulting cost to our privacy -- and more so, our democracy? On the next Moyers & Company (check local listings), Lawrence Lessig, professor of law and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University and founder of Stanford Law School's Center for Internet and Society, joins Bill to discuss the implications of our government's actions and Edward Snowden's role in leaking the information. Few are as knowledgeable about the impact of the Internet on our public and private lives as Lessig, who argues that government needs to protect American rights with the same determination and technological sophistication it uses to invade our privacy and root out terrorists. "What do we put into place to check government officials to make sure they behave in a way that respects our most fundamental values?" Lessig asks. A former conservative who's now a liberal, Lessig also knows that the caustic impact of money is another weapon capable of mortally wounding democracy. His recent book, Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress -- and a Plan to Stop It, decries a pervasive "dependence corruption" in our government and politics that should sound a desperate alarm for both the Left and the Right. On the broadcast, Lessig outlines a radical approach to the problem that uses big money itself to reform big money-powered corruption. How do we protect our privacy when Big Government and Big Business morph into Big Brother? Next on Moyers & Company.
