People study and apprentice in PR and lobbying just as hard as programmers learn to program. It is a skill with high stakes outcomes, so planning and preparation is important. Ultimately you want to build broad consensus with influential people around your position such that decision makers feel your choice is the safe, obvious, and ideally only choice. Nothing of substance can be done with brute force alone.
Big companies can afford to hire legions of people who have a track record of getting things done legislatively and with public perception. Frankly I know of no antidote. The know how to astroturf grassroots campaigns, defame anyone who opposes them, get an audience with anyone, and research anything at scale.
The best I’ve come up with over the years is some kind of law that requires disclosures about all spending on PR and lobbying, and that those are presented along with all communications. Sort of a nutrition label for hot air. Of course, that would be astonishing difficult to pass into law, with their whole trade leaning against it. Another policy could be to stop making their expenses tax deductible. There was some movement towards making advertising 50% tax deductible rather than 100% a several years back, but American Advertising Federation lobbying made sure it never got any traction.
Their handiwork: https://www.aaf.org/Public/Education-and-Resources/Governmen...
They are sort of the anti-EFF.
Anything you organize that becomes a threat, they will try to disorganize… from the top down or bottom up.
If there is a better way let me know and I’ll get behind it.
Big companies can afford to hire legions of people who have a track record of getting things done legislatively and with public perception. Frankly I know of no antidote. The know how to astroturf grassroots campaigns, defame anyone who opposes them, get an audience with anyone, and research anything at scale.
The best I’ve come up with over the years is some kind of law that requires disclosures about all spending on PR and lobbying, and that those are presented along with all communications. Sort of a nutrition label for hot air. Of course, that would be astonishing difficult to pass into law, with their whole trade leaning against it. Another policy could be to stop making their expenses tax deductible. There was some movement towards making advertising 50% tax deductible rather than 100% a several years back, but American Advertising Federation lobbying made sure it never got any traction.
Their handiwork: https://www.aaf.org/Public/Education-and-Resources/Governmen...
They are sort of the anti-EFF.
Anything you organize that becomes a threat, they will try to disorganize… from the top down or bottom up.
If there is a better way let me know and I’ll get behind it.