2 ms·

To be honest I think this is more an issue of an org that can be constructed nearly whole cloth by one or more corporate entities and be basically designed from

To be honest I think this is more an issue of an org that can be constructed nearly whole cloth by one or more corporate entities and be basically designed from the word go to misinform the public, somehow. Be it the more Machiavellian end of the spectrum where you want to convince people a bad thing is good actually (a lot of climate stuff fits this, looking at you Koch) all the way to this kind of thing. The scale of the lie is an interesting data point, but nevertheless, we as a society have apparently decided we're okay being lied to at scale. That's... weird, right? Like even if you say companies should have the right to lobby (which frankly I'd disagree with but I digress), why are they allowed to do it like this? Where they astroturf a "citizens" group to trick people into parroting their propaganda?

InSteady 3y ago
Freedom of $peech is a broad umbrella. And at least in America, we are incredibly business friendly while being rather cavalier regarding consumer protections. At the same time we are an incredibly litigious society, so you end up with a perverse situation where laws, regulations, and bureaucratic inefficiencies choke up the efforts of businesses and nonprofit organizations (and even local governments), but individual consumers still regularly get fucked with absolutely no recourse. Other than shelling out for a lawyer and taking someone to civil court themselves. Lobbying is it's own can of worms as a system with perverse incentives and ethical quagmires. But good luck getting any traction trying to change the way that works.. anyone in a position to make changes to it stands to benefit from this way of doing things (and has probably been indoctrinated into believing it is an effective and equitable system in any case). At least our brand of political corruption is (mostly) out in the open and "on the books." Businesses and NGOs get tax write-offs for their lobbying expenses, so there is plenty of documentation.

InSteady 3y ago

Freedom of $peech is a broad umbrella. And at least in America, we are incredibly business friendly while being rather cavalier regarding consumer protections. At the same time we are an incredibly litigious society, so you end up with a perverse situation where laws, regulations, and bureaucratic inefficiencies choke up the efforts of businesses and nonprofit organizations (and even local governments), but individual consumers still regularly get fucked with absolutely no recourse. Other than shelling out for a lawyer and taking someone to civil court themselves. Lobbying is it's own can of worms as a system with perverse incentives and ethical quagmires. But good luck getting any traction trying to change the way that works.. anyone in a position to make changes to it stands to benefit from this way of doing things (and has probably been indoctrinated into believing it is an effective and equitable system in any case). At least our brand of political corruption is (mostly) out in the open and "on the books." Businesses and NGOs get tax write-offs for their lobbying expenses, so there is plenty of documentation.