You might find Lawrence Lessig's talk at Google interesting: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1AK56FtVc http:

You might find Lawrence Lessig's talk at Google interesting: How Money Corrupts Congress—and a Plan to Stop It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1AK56FtVc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik1AK56FtVc However, the article suggests that if some terrible legislation passed it would ignite people into real action. That clearly failed to happen when the Patriot Act was passed. I'm sure there are many more examples. If the discourse surrounding legislation convinces enough people not to care (or fails to make it into wider public awareness), then there doesn't seem to be much standing in its way.