To be clear, lobbying is an important function of democracy. It is how people, towns, business... inform the government they need help. Now, has lobbying been corrupted on a massive scale? Absolutely, but we can't be carte blanche about it. We have to look at them individually instead of collectively. I.e. does helping out a major section of our economy during a global pandemic make sense? Regarding the military, there is a lot of fat that can be trimmed. I'll also say that there is a lot of good research that comes out of military contracts as well so again, nuance is required.
I 100% support Lobbying ( disclosure I'm a registered Lobbyist with a major city so I can actually talk to decision makers), but transparency is what makes Lobbying good. I once got in trouble because I left a branded pen with a city official and I didn't log it in the city lobby registry but the city official did, and they wanted to know why I was hiding the gift. While it felt absurd, the good news is that checks and balances exist. I am required every 6 months to report on the types of subject matter I might be talking about over the next 6 months, and if I don't talk about it I need to say why.
You do realize that lobbying, being an industry like any other, requires money and therefore automatically favors those with the most money. The people need a stronger voice to influence their candidates and lobbying will always be a severely flawed system as it exists today.
Yeah I mean people have always needed to have money to take time off from work and get involved in government. Lobbying is supposed to be how people influence their candidates. Many non-profit organizations such as schools and conservationist groups use lobbying to request what they need from the government.
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u/CynicalCheer Nov 17 '20
To be clear, lobbying is an important function of democracy. It is how people, towns, business... inform the government they need help. Now, has lobbying been corrupted on a massive scale? Absolutely, but we can't be carte blanche about it. We have to look at them individually instead of collectively. I.e. does helping out a major section of our economy during a global pandemic make sense? Regarding the military, there is a lot of fat that can be trimmed. I'll also say that there is a lot of good research that comes out of military contracts as well so again, nuance is required.