| > How do you create this rather mythical class of individual? Wouldn't the time taken to gain the expertise also subject them to bias from the companies they worked for? If you've known many employees you'll know that having worked for a company doesn't always instill undying devotion to that company or require placing the company's interests above all over concerns. I'm also not convinced that all experts need to have actively worked directly for the companies being regulated either. > why would you expect the industry, possibly represented by a trade group, to be incapable of writing good long term policy? I don't, but I do expect them to write policy that benefits them regardless of who else or how many others are hurt in the process. Corporations are amoral monsters that care only about profit. They'll happily create legislation that allows them to pollute the Earth, poison entire communities, hinder existing competitors while limiting the ability of would-be competitors to become a threat, and limit our ability to hold them meaningfully accountable for the harms they cause. In some instantiates legislation can further their selfish goals while, even if only by coincidence, also align with the general public's interest. Their legislation might also not pass as written, and through negotiation to get them what they want a representative might concede to modifications that give the people something they need as well. Industry doesn't write legalization for altruistic reasons and they certainly don't write it because they want to get or stay elected. > Hasn't it been shown that actual legislation is meaningless to these entities already? It shows that our current legislation hasn't been written with the intent to constrain them. We know from experience that strong regulation with teeth can do a lot of good, but industry spends massive amounts of money bribing lawmakers to throw out effective laws and regulation so that they can do whatever they want without consequence. > Where did you think we were before? I think that before corporations weren't spending billions every year in lobbying. I think that before Citizens United and Super PACs corporations weren't able to freely funnel unlimited amounts of money into the pockets of congressmen and presidents. Before we were in a nation that didn't grant nearly as many rights and privileges to corporations, didn't consider them people, and didn't consider money to be speech. Labor unions were much much stronger and public-interest groups had a greater influence on politicians because their voices weren't drowned out by the floods of money corporations were able to spend. > If laws aren't being enforced already how is modifying the system for writing them possibly going to solve your apparent complaints? Laws are being enforced, but laws constraining industry have been made limited, weak, and ineffectual following more than a century of coordinated efforts by corporations to corrupt our political system, overturn laws and regulations that limit their profits and power, and weaken the ability for anyone to hold them accountable. By modifying our system for writing laws in ways that seek to minimize corruption and limit the ability for corporations to pass self-serving policy, reforms to undo much of the damage they've caused our political system become possible. I do not believe that it is impossible to limit the outsized and still growing influence of corporations on our laws and political system. I think that we can still fight against corruption in politics, but we can't do that while the very cause of that corruption is writing our nation's policy and filling the pockets of politicians with limitless cash. |