Being located in Brussels, it always feels that there must be ways to influence the people within the EU who have so much power. Not just the politicians (for whom there are thousands of professional and well-paid full-time lobbyists), but also the eurocrats who manage a lot of the tangible work the EU does.
It always feels like the bad guys (the oil-companies and tobacco companies and people looking for reduced regulation (often using the euphemism “simplification” to describe what is really reducing consumer-protection, reducing environmental protection, slowing AI legislation, etc.) have all the money, power and influence. I would love to see more EA’s aggressively and effectively working in this area. There are many NGO’s of course who do this, full of people who do great work. But it just feels like they are often out-manned and struggling to be heard.
The example that always comes to mind is the few people lobbying for better legislation on issues like factory farming or alternative protein trying to be heard when there are regular many-thousand strong violent demonstrations by “farmers” with tractors opposing anything that they don’t like. It’s annoying because I strongly believe that the farmers involved in these protests represent the huge industrial factory farms, and not the many smaller farmers who do have genuine concerns and challenges. The legislation serves neither the animals nor the true farmers, just the factory farms who have the money to lobby and protest.
Thanks for this Michelle (and Pause AI).
Being located in Brussels, it always feels that there must be ways to influence the people within the EU who have so much power. Not just the politicians (for whom there are thousands of professional and well-paid full-time lobbyists), but also the eurocrats who manage a lot of the tangible work the EU does.
It always feels like the bad guys (the oil-companies and tobacco companies and people looking for reduced regulation (often using the euphemism “simplification” to describe what is really reducing consumer-protection, reducing environmental protection, slowing AI legislation, etc.) have all the money, power and influence. I would love to see more EA’s aggressively and effectively working in this area. There are many NGO’s of course who do this, full of people who do great work. But it just feels like they are often out-manned and struggling to be heard.
The example that always comes to mind is the few people lobbying for better legislation on issues like factory farming or alternative protein trying to be heard when there are regular many-thousand strong violent demonstrations by “farmers” with tractors opposing anything that they don’t like. It’s annoying because I strongly believe that the farmers involved in these protests represent the huge industrial factory farms, and not the many smaller farmers who do have genuine concerns and challenges. The legislation serves neither the animals nor the true farmers, just the factory farms who have the money to lobby and protest.