5 ms·
> I believe that governments ought to put consumer interests first, even though presently they have a track record of doing the exact opposite. For me, this is
by argumentum 13y ago
> I believe that governments ought to put consumer interests first, even though presently they have a track record of doing the exact opposite.
For me, this is the part I'd emphasize, and probably where we could create a great deal of consensus. Whether or not we agree that the government should be interfering for the benefit of the consumer, we definitely agree that it shouldn't be interfering for the benefit of big business.
- johndevor 13y ago> Whether or not we agree that the government should be interfering for the benefit of the consumer, we definitely agree that it shouldn't be interfering for the benefit of big business. But government is largely bought and paid for by special interests. Given that, it seems there's very little point in asking what the gov't should do. What it will do, is quite obvious: it will serve the interests of the highest bidder.
- argumentum 13y agoI agree, that's the real world result, but we can't win that argument easily. Instead we can point out each instance of it happening and hopefully the more pragmatic liberals will come around eventually.
- jjoonathan 13y agoNot necessarily. Right now our system has a policy of mandatory bribery built into the system by way of campaign finance rules. It's relatively easy to go from "mandatory bribery" to "optional bribery" through public campaign funding, which I think is a step in the right direction. Campaign finance reform is a boring but necessary first step towards fixing this mess.