<p>I ask the question because I have been giving great thought to my future profession in life. I have only two loves science and politics, which offer a plethora of careers but my desire to make money left only two options left: a doctor or a lobbyist. Being a doctor has its downsides principally because I would have to undergo four more years of schools. </p>
<p>I really would like to be a lobbyist because lobbyists get to be involved in all the important legistlation going on at the Capitol, and even are integral in fund raising and other parts of national parties, something that I have wanted to do for a long time. The RNC national convention and DNC convention this past year were full of lobbyist who also had a hand in directing and operating the convention.</p>
<p>But people make it seem as if being a lobbyist would be morally reprehensible. So my question is: Is being a lobbyist wrong?</p>
<p>I actually got to speak to 2 female lobbyists in Madison, Wisconsin when I attended Badger Girls State. Lobbying can be rewarding if its a cause you believe in, but sometimes you have to lobby for things you disagree completely with…you might get lucky and never have that problem, but you most likely will encounter it, especially if you want to be a lobbyist in DC and not a state capital. Its something to think about, because you may not be able to do your job well and persuasively if you don’t believe in it, and you may feel like what you are doing is morally wrong. But being a lobbyist in general isn’t wrong–they just get a bad rep because many are kind of corrupt/lobby for things the general public disagrees with.</p>
<p>Yeah, I mean I would want to focus on more of a business side of things. I mean who gets hurt if I became a lobbyist for say retail stores. I would want to be a lobbyist for either pharmaceutical companies or financial/business interest, not the most altruistic things but things that are important to the economy of the country. I am just afraid that I would end up lobbying for things that are going to mess someone over and I have a tendency to believe in Hell and would rather avoid that.</p>
<p>There is nothing “wrong” with being a lobbyist. It’s just a somewhat tarnished profession because it is viewed as a money-driven subversion (though a perfectly legal one) of the proper political process.</p>
<p>Pretty much all public or private policy hurts someone in one way or another. Some policies are just more detrimental than others. But, if you really think about it, pretty much anything you ever decide to do as a profession will end up hurting someone. It’s just that the detriments of policy adoption are much more transparent.</p>
<p>For example: say you lobby for a retail store bill that allocates 1 million dollars in taxpayer money to research into demographic information that will aid the industry. First, this bill would take a fraction of a cent from someone. That’s really not significant. But, what if another bill that also allocates 1 million dollars is up for vote. This one loses by a couple votes, because some politicians decided it would be best not to vote for two 1 million dollar spending bills in the same session. So, a bill loses. Except this bill allocates the million dollars into lightning strike safety signs in Yellowstone Park. So, the signs don’t go up, hikers do not know the proper procedure to deal with storms, and a man dies when he is struck by lightning (he thought one was supposed to stand under the tallest tree in an open field with a metal cable supporting some limbs). So, you lobbying for this seemingly harmless real estate provision led to a man’s death. An extreme example, of course, but hopefully you get the point.</p>
<p>I have a lot of friends who work as lobbyists or do something similar. Every one of them has made major compromises with his conscience by the time he reached middle age. All of them rationalize it. For instance, in the USSR they used to say “If you’re not stealing from your employer, you’re stealing from your family.”</p>
<p>In one recent example, a friend who works for a labor union found out through one of his contacts that a hospital was committing fraud against Medicare. So what did he do? Inform the FBI? Nope. Tell them to stop? Not a chance.</p>
<p>He went to the guilty parties and committed extortion by offering them a deal. If they would allow his union into the hospital he wouldn’t turn them in. They accepted. And it was not a condition of the deal that they stop the fraudulent billing.</p>
<p>Ugh, I really just want to be involved in the political process, but the more i find out about how politics is run the more it seems that politics in and of itself is a very dirty business. Although the conception of politics as corrupt is cliche, it seems that the ONLY way to make decent (150K+) money and be involved in politics involves rather circumspect actions.</p>
<p>^You could follow in the steps of some other Yalies and become a president. I think they make like 300,000 a year or something around there, but when you think of appearances and book royalties afterwards, you are set for life. In the 10 or so years you have after you finish graduate school until you can run, just own a baseball team and fail to get elected to congress, among other things.</p>
<p>I was kind of kidding (I now notice that you are also from Texas, furthering the comparisons). </p>
<p>I think if you want to be involved in politics but not feel guilty of something, you could write books, articles, or be a news investigator or anchor. Expose the corruption and moral problems, rather than work in it. You don’t even have to write about corruption. You won’t be directly involved in the process, but if you influence enough people or even some representatives, you will be partially involved.</p>
<p>On a different note, I can kind of see why you wouldn’t be a good politician. You seem to not understand when someone is joking or exaggerating. So, if in a debate, a senator says something like: “Where would Christianity be if Jesus got 8 to 15 years, with time off for good behavior?” (an actual quote), you’ll respond with: “Jesus is dead, genius” or “I don’t think they gave ‘time off for good behavior’ back then.” A long story short, your dreams for office would be shattered the first time you take a joke, embellishement, or metaphor literally and opened your mouth.</p>
<p>Unless you were joking all along with your comment above. But generally when people do that, they put a smiley or lol at the end of the comment so everyone knows that they are playing along.</p>
<p>No I wasn’t joking, yes I will admit that sometimes sarcasm escapes me. It is ironic that you mention the journalism thing because I love the shows and kind of have imagined myself being on them after being involved in politics. What else is particularly ironic is that Yale recently launched a Journalism initiative in a bid to get more Yalies involved in journalism although I would prefer broadcast journalism to normal journalism.</p>
<p>^That’s good. You’ll have to rise up a lot to get your desired income (I think), but if you are good enough to get into Yale, I’m sure you could put in the work and have the skills to be succesful in the field. And if you are good enough, you can bring in Stephen Colbert dollars. So maybe just take some classes and see if you like it.</p>
<p>Although I am not taking your position in politics, I would recommend you to start your career from a staff at a senator’s office or Chamber of Commerce.</p>
<p>Lobbyists bring specialized knowledge to the table. They can help legislators understand matters outside the legislator’s training and background.</p>
<p>If you want to be in politics without being a hired gun or standing for election, consider committee staff. I think that is generally low pay, but it would also give a chance to observe lobbyists and see what you think.</p>
<p>Yeah, I know the method for how to become a lobbyist and about all the years working for about 30K as a staff assistant to congressmen. I was planning on doing that for a little while after college before I decide what to ultimate do.</p>
<p>For your “Right or Wrong” question.
One guy I met at a national business organization repeatedly criticized a growing business which is sort of an obstacle for CEOs of big businesses. 6 months later, he e-mailed me to notify that he has moved to a company in that business. I am not sure why. Maybe further deep consideration made him change his mind. Maybe …
I assume being a lobbyist is something similar.</p>