this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2023
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Taking the time to get in touch with representatives at all levels of government is just good citizenship.
Sure, there are lobbyists. But there's me too. We can't expect to enjoy a civilized society unless we put in the effort.
Having done this before and being told to basically get stuffed from one of their underlings I have zero faith in it. It's basically just another token thing that's about as useful as "thoughts & prayers" for the most part.
You have to be nice. You're selling an idea that is probably foreign to them.
I don't mean they literally told me to get stuffed. They won't personally take your call nor read your letter. You might get lucky and they'll let you physically come into their office but that's about as far as you'll get.
I do it when I can, but that kind of influence just can't be done by a handful of tech-literate terminally-online weirdos. It takes a buttload of money or a massive amount of public attention to push an issue like this forward, especially when political operatives absolutely benefit from both the data and the companies involved. The political calculus just isn't there.
More people need to know and care about this before any legislator is going to spend political capital on it.