The government is a body of power made of the people for the people and by the people. The problem with this is that it has very little benefit to large corporations who want to have legislature that benefits them and their bottom line. These companies have taken to a practice commonly known as ‘Lobbying.’ This practice is against the best interests of US citizens and a danger to democracy. Lobbyism is a practice that gives massive corporations the same rights as normal citizens and takes away from the meaning of the average citizen by putting a hand on the scale.
According to Brittanica lobbying is “any attempt by individuals or private interest groups to influence the decisions of government.” This can take many forms, from requests by a few people to companies spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on politicians. These companies often push their own influence as an unofficial condition of getting these massive sums, allowing them to build company friendly legislature that often benefits no one except the companies involved in this lobbying. Lobbying is also undermining the equality that is supposed to be inherent in the democratic process. Lobbying would be democratic if every organization was lobbying, and to be fair, most political groups including churches, women’s rights groups, and unions do have some form of lobbying. The problem according to Second Rate Democracy is that “Corporations now spend about $2.6 billion a year on reported lobbying expenditures. Today, the biggest companies have upwards of 100 lobbyists representing them, allowing them to be everywhere, all the time. For every dollar spent on lobbying by labor unions and public-interest groups together, large corporations and their associations now spend $34.” This statistic is indicative of an inherent bias towards those with a large amount of money as they are afforded quantitative improvements over every other competitor and then use these new laws, they have installed to push themselves ever higher over these other organizations.
Some people say that lobbying is a part of the system and should be taken advantage of. Lobbyit says the people who benefit from lobbying are “Legislators and government representatives – Lobbyists provide information, research, and expert opinions that can assist policymakers in making informed decisions. This can be especially helpful in complex areas where officials might not have expertise. Constituents and the public – When lobbying aligns with the broader public interest (e.g., public health measures or environmental protections), the outcomes can benefit society at large.” Lobbyit is saying that they provide information to government officials, which may be true, but they also tell politicians whatever the group who hired them tells them to say. Their second group that they help is the public. They are saying that sometimes the legislator they help pass can, on occasion, help other people. They are benefiting only these few massive corporations.
Represent Us says “There is nothing inherently wrong with lobbying. Lobbying encourages people to play an active role in their government — it’s protected by the First Amendment as our right ‘to petition the government.’” Lobbying is not the main problem. The main problem is the rich who desire more from the world. The corporations who lobby the government are run by the same people who would rather destroy our planet and everything on it except for themselves than stop making money. Instead of getting rid of lobbying, the people and the government need to put limitations on corporations who act like they represent all people within and without them. People wanting change is not the problem, the problem is the companies that take advantage of the system and others want change.
