RE: Re: Re: [Pen-l] Green Public investment

["David B. Shemano" <dshemano@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Jim Devine writes:

>> David S:
>> > In your ideal world without lobbyists, how are the desires of the non-legislators
>> communicated to the legislators?<
>> 
>> voting, petitions, democratic stuff like that. Likely there would be
>> some people who _look like_ lobbyists to the jaundiced eye (since they
>> specialize in communication between legislators and non-legislators),
>> but the point is not what you call them. Rather, it's to level the
>> playing field, so that lobbyists do not have any special advantage
>> over the non-lobbyists.
>> 
>> This is obviously assuming that there's an economy where owning
>> massive amounts of money gives some individuals a power advantage. The
>> basic principle is "one person, one vote," not (as roughly at present)
>> "one dollar, one vote."

When people use the word "ideal," or "utopia," there are two possible ways to think about such topics.  I could say that in my ideal world, people have wings and can fly.  However, such a world is fantasy and unrealistic.  Alternatively, I can aim lower and take into consideration practical constraints, and say that in my ideal world, everybody has clean water.  Such a world is achievable.

I am trying to figure out where in the spectrum your ideal world exists.  To me, lobbyists exist because (1) people have conflicting interests,(2) legislators have the ability to pick and choose which conflicting interest to favor and which to disfavor, and (3) most legislators want to remain legislators -- lobbyists exist because inevitably a subset of the populace organizes to influence legislation.  I cannot conceptualize how lobbyists could not exist if 1, 2 and 3 do exist.  I suppose Marxists could resolve this dilemma by arguing people do not necessarily have conflicting interests, but personally, that to me is closer to flying people than a world of clean water.

David Shemano
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