Lobbying

We get what others lobby for…

Mat Honan
SOPA And PIPA Are the Internet’s Own Damn Fault
Look, I fully support efforts by Reddit and Wikipedia and others to raise awareness. But the reason SOPA and PIPA are threatening to destroy the Internet as we know it is due to the Internet sector’s epic failure to engage politically in a way that matters throughout, well, basically its entire history. Meaning, by aggressively lobbying. Sure, money is a terrible and horrible corrupting influence on politics. But here’s the thing: it exists.

Politics is defined by money and access. Plain and simple. The unfortunate truth is that if you want to change Washington DC, you have to buy it. And the big online Internet companies, especially Web-facing ones, have failed to pony up.

Interesting take by Mat Honan. I can’t say I disagree.

I think the main feeling I have walking away from today is shame.

Today was interesting. I don’t usually find myself caught up in the sorts of protest-type “movements” that we saw today, but this one got me. I’m still not sure how I feel about it. Whether Mat is 100% correct or not, I think the main feeling I have walking away from today is shame. Shame that it got to this point. As a country, how do we continue to put people in power who are so ready to listen to special interest groups? Is it simply because sometimes our special interests get listened to and we feel like we got a win?

The very existence of SOPA/PIPA (and the lobbying efforts that birthed them) underscore a deeper problem in our current political system. It’s deeper than money in politics, corporate lobbies, or congressmen who don’t understand the internet. I think we’re facing the result of making politics a lifelong-career of the privileged and attention-seeking. How different would Washington be if everyone knew they only had—at the most—a few years to do the work they were elected to do?

Comments

iamronen

on shame – it’s good when we finally take a personal look at our contribution: http://iamronen.com/2011/11/brutal-honesty/

on leadership – we get what we want: http://iamronen.com/2009/03/leadership/

Xerxes

Solid quote from Mat. It does seem that the legislative branch is selling us out right in front of our eyes. I give a little bit more credence to state governments serving smaller populations and by default fewer special interests. It seems like this is the only level we are seeing any significant change for the good right now in the U.S.

Blog.