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Space Station grabs SpaceX Dragon ship

(www.bbc.co.uk)
585 points mocko | 7 comments | 25 May 12 14:01 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source | bottom
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zecho ◴[25 May 12 14:26 UTC] No.4023608[source]▶
On one hand, this is a momentous day for private space flight. On the other, we're closer to Moon lobbyists than ever.
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ConstantineXVI ◴[25 May 12 14:39 UTC] No.4023669[source]▶
If we had moon lobbyists, at least NASA would get better funding. I'd take moon lobbying over coal/oil/defense/farming/etc. any day.
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CWuestefeld ◴[25 May 12 15:24 UTC] No.4023857[source]▶
I think part of the problem is that we're willing to accept bad behavior when it's done on behalf of the team we agree with.

If something is bad, then it's bad even when it's done by your team.

The end does not justify the means.

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rmassie ◴[25 May 12 15:47 UTC] No.4023964[source]▶
Can anyone tell me why lobbying is inherently bad?
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Alex3917 ◴[25 May 12 15:56 UTC] No.4024010{3}[source]▶
It's not. If not for lobbyists we'd have no bill of rights, we'd all still be driving cars that exploded whenever they got rear ended, our rivers would still catch fire on a regular basis, etc.
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1. leot ◴[25 May 12 16:58 UTC] No.4024372{4}[source]▶
That all sounds like lobbying from non-corporate entities.
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2. CWuestefeld ◴[25 May 12 17:22 UTC] No.4024503[source]▶
False. Those were corporation. Perhaps you didn't realize that Sierra Club, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, etc. are corporations?

Corporations are not just businesses. They are the way that people with a common interest can pool their resources to coordinate on a common goal.

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3. leot ◴[25 May 12 17:40 UTC] No.4024602[source]▶
Well, then, I meant non-profits -- my mistake.

That is, all this "good" lobbying was by organizations operating on behalf of a large group of individuals who don't have the same shared profit-driven interest.

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4. jbooth ◴[25 May 12 17:45 UTC] No.4024622[source]▶
Nonprofit advocacy organizations may be incorporated but it's really not what the parent poster meant by "corporations".
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5. ◴[25 May 12 18:41 UTC] No.4024864{3}[source]▶
6. JumpCrisscross ◴[25 May 12 21:10 UTC] No.4025374{3}[source]▶
So profit = evil is the crux of the argument? The Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit while many Sierra Club sponsors are businesses who benefit from the regulation they promote.
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7. leot ◴[25 May 12 23:46 UTC] No.4025861{4}[source]▶
When people or organizations get together and lobby the government so that their business or industry makes more money as a consequence of the changes they're lobbying for, then yes, that's bad. Sure, corporations should be able to influence policy, but this influence must happen democratically and out in the open, and potentially opposing parties must have an opportunity to comment.

The fix doesn't lie, however, in hoping that businesses will voluntarily stop lobbying, so I won't criticize back-country tourism companies from giving money to the Sierra Club to ensure that their venues remain unspoilt. Even if a business didn't want to, it might nonetheless feel compelled to lobby congress for reasons of competitive advantage. When many entities feel compelled to act in opposition to their ethics, it's a sure sign that the system they operate in is broken.

(That said, many businesses sponsor the Sierra Club for P.R. reasons, which is fine and categorically different from the "bad lobbying" explained above)