The realities of lobbying -- a look beyond the smoke and mirrors | Maria Laptev | TEDxUBIWiltz

Summary

Maria Laptev's TEDx talk dives into the often misunderstood realm of lobbying, shedding light on the intricate balance lobbyists must maintain between government actions and diverse stakeholder interests. With origins dating back 400 years, lobbying has transformed from 'liars for hire' to crucial operators navigating today's complex landscape. Laptev emphasizes that lobbyists act amidst a cacophony of truths, aiming to harmonize government actions with societal needs. Through anecdotes like the seal fur trade and the enduring impact of Tim Berners Lee, she illustrates how lobbyists can be creators for the greater good, moving past 'smoke and mirrors' to foster transparency and accountability.

Highlights

• Lobbying dates back 400 years, originating with British petitioners and powerful trade associations 🎩.
• Modern lobbying requires balancing diverse truths, like economic growth, environmental concerns, and public interest 🌿.
• 'Smoke and mirrors' is a tactic in lobbying to capture attention, but real change requires moving past it 🔄.
• Effective lobbying has led to significant changes, like the EU's ban on seal fur, by prioritizing ethics over trade 🐻.
• Tim Berners Lee's efforts for a free web highlight lobbying for societal good, not just corporate interests 💻.

Key Takeaways

• Lobbying isn't just about deception—it's about navigating multiple truths to influence government action 🤝.
• Historically, lobbyists served as intermediaries balancing taxation and business growth 📜.
• In modern contexts, lobbyists handle complex issues, advocating for clients while considering global impacts 🌍.
• Lobbyists use 'smoke and mirrors' to garner attention but must move beyond them to effect real change 🎩.
• Successful lobbying involves transparency, balancing interests, and sometimes, creating exceptions for sustainable practices 🌿.

Overview

In her engaging TEDx talk, Maria Laptev describes the transformative role of lobbyists, challenging common misconceptions. She delves into the historical roots of lobbying, highlighting its progress from mere petitioning for powerful guilds to becoming sophisticated intermediaries in the modern socio-economic fabric. By addressing the nuanced purpose and methods of lobbying, Laptev invites listeners to reconsider their perception of this often-misunderstood profession.

Maria Laptev extends her discussion by exploring how lobbyists operate as critical agglomerators of 'truths'—incorporating varying societal needs, environmental concerns, and business interests—to guide government decisions. She illustrates this complexity using the enduring debate between animal welfare activists and the fur industry, showing how effective lobbying isn't merely about persuasion but about facilitating informed governance through exception clauses and ethical considerations.

Concluding her insights, Laptev celebrates noteworthy advocates of positive change, such as Tim Berners Lee, whose commitment to a free web exemplifies lobbying for public good over private gain. Highlighting how competent lobbyists look beyond superficial tactics like 'smoke and mirrors,' she accentuates the significance of transparency, accountability, and creative problem-solving in modern lobbying efforts.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction and Perception of Jobs The chapter begins with a focus on perception, asking the audience whether perception is everything. It challenges the reader or listener to consider what type of job or career they perceive as world-changing or personally fulfilling.
• 01:30 - 04:00: Definition and History of Lobbying The chapter opens by examining various professions to explore the concept of integrity and trustworthiness within them. It questions if these qualities are associated with being a banker, doctor, teacher, inventor, or more broadly, how integrity manifests in different roles. The narrative seems to set the stage for a discussion on how those qualities relate to the field of lobbying, hinting at a deeper dive into the moral and ethical considerations of the practice.
• 04:00 - 06:30: Post-World War Changes and Lobbyists' Role This chapter discusses the perception of lobbying, addressing the misconception that lobbyists are simply 'liars for hire.' It aims to explore both the public's view of lobbying and how lobbyists themselves use perception as a tool in their work. It sets the stage for a deeper understanding of the complex role that lobbying plays in post-World War social and political changes.
• 06:30 - 08:00: Modern Lobbyists and Social Media Impact This chapter explores the role of modern lobbyists, focusing on their use of social media to influence government action. It delves into the historical origins of lobbying, tracing it back to 1640, and discusses the fundamental objectives behind lobbying efforts, such as enacting, amending, or repealing legislation.
• 08:00 - 10:00: Lobbyists Using Perception as a Tool The chapter titled 'Lobbyists Using Perception as a Tool' explores the historical origins of lobbying. It traces back to 400 years ago when the term 'lobbyist' first emerged. At this time, British petitioners were hired by powerful trade associations, known as guilds or livery companies. These petitioners were tasked with representing these companies at Westminster, the central hub for legislative processes.
• 10:00 - 15:00: Animal Welfare vs. Fur Trade Example The chapter discusses the challenges merchants faced in lobbying for their interests in parliament, particularly in relation to the fur trade. It highlights the logistical difficulties they encountered, such as deciding when to travel to London and determining whom to approach and lobby. The emphasis is on the strategic planning necessary for merchants who were too busy with their businesses to personally visit parliament, requiring them to hire representatives to advocate on their behalf.
• 15:00 - 20:00: Conclusion with Tim Berners Lee Example In the concluding chapter, the focus is on the intricate roles of lobbyists who mediate between government and the elite merchants they represent. It poses the question of whether lobbyists were deceitful or simply presenting the truth of their clients, highlighting the complexity of political maneuvers in influencing government decisions. The mention of 'whining and dining' indicates the often informal tactics used to sway opinion. Unfortunately, without more context, the example of Tim Berners Lee isn't covered in the available transcript, possibly alluding to a comparison or contrast between the innovations in digital space and traditional lobbying.

The realities of lobbying -- a look beyond the smoke and mirrors | Maria Laptev | TEDxUBIWiltz Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] [Music] [Applause] I'm going to start with a question for you. Is perception everything? So what would you perceive as a job or a career that you would like to do that would change the world that would make you feel good that give you that sense of
• 00:30 - 01:00 integrity being trusted? Would you on the one hand think of um being a banker or uh would you think on the other hand of being a doctor? Would you think of being a teacher? Or would you think of being um an inventor? Or would you think that all those characteristics of trust, integrity could be shown in being a
• 01:00 - 01:30 lobbyist? Now, if I say I'm a lobbyist, people, you can see the look on their faces. There's still the old concept. I can see it there. the liar for hire. So what I'd like to do is I would like to talk to you about um the perception of lobbying on the one hand but also I'll give you a second talk which is how we use perception how lobbyists use perception as a tool. So what is lobbying? Well, four
• 01:30 - 02:00 words. Lobbying is about getting government to act. And what does government acting mean? It means either changing legislation, it either means putting in more legislation, or it means taking away legislation. But it's about getting government to act in one of those ways. So where does the word lobbing come from? In 1640, that's 400 years ago sometime. Not the oldest profession in
• 02:00 - 02:30 the world, but getting there. So 400 years ago, we saw the word lobbyist come in for the first time. These were British petitioners who had been hired by the most powerful trade associations. They were called guilds or livery companies. So they were hired by these livery companies to go down um representing the livery companies to go down to Westminster, the great palace of Westminster where all the legislation
• 02:30 - 03:00 took place and where parliament sat. Now you can imagine if you were a merchant of gold, of cloth, of silver, you were certainly not going to take that time away from a business to get down to London, take a boat. You hired somebody else. So these lobbyists had to choose the timing when to take the boat. Then when they got there, they had to decide whom they were going to speak to, whom they were going to address, whom they
• 03:00 - 03:30 were going to whine and dine and whom they were going to convince to stand up and make motions and get government to listen. Were they lying or was it just one truth, which is the truth of those they represented? What the lobbyist had to do was act between the government. You can imagine tax all these merchants with all those powerful goods, the elite of the of that
• 03:30 - 04:00 time, great sources of tax. But the merchants would say, "Hold on, we need to expand. You can't, you know, reduce our potential to grow." So in the end, the government had to decide what to do. Getting government to act was the lobbyist's role in a way that met government's need to get taxation and the merchants need to continue to grow. The liar for hire one truth. Fast forward to a different time
• 04:00 - 04:30 post world war 2 one two 1980s. The world has expanded. Economic uh growth is here. We have corporates. We have global companies. that have grown beyond all proportion to before the wars. You've got citizens suddenly much more involved, wanting to have a clean planet, having want to having wanting to travel more. You've got airlines, you've got telephones. The world has
• 04:30 - 05:00 changed. And consumers, consumers want products that are safe and clean. They want food that is good and healthy. And in the meantime, government is listening to this cacophony of interests. Where do the lobbyists come in? The lobbyists have to represent their clients. Whichever one of those interests is paying them to represent them. But will the government listen to one truth now or are there many truths? Because
• 05:00 - 05:30 suddenly you've got the consumers, you've got citizens organized in you've got employees organized in trade unions, you've got the companies who've got very legitimate interests in growing because they're the ones that make the world money makes the world go round. It is about economics. So government is only going to act if they can see a way through all these truths. So that's the lobbyist's role. It's not one truth now, but it's to deal with many truths.
• 05:30 - 06:00 And when I said now, what do I mean by now? 2014, the world has changed out of all proportion. Social media, we've all talked about telephones. Everything, there is no secret anymore. There is no one or two or three or four truths. Governments are so much more accountable than they ever have been. If they do get away with something, it's not for very long. Truth will out. The lobbyist's role here is to be that operator. I use the word
• 06:00 - 06:30 operator that gets all those truths out on the table before anybody looks really foolish or gets into trouble. Government will not act unless they are clear that they have listened to as many truths as they can. So the lie for hire, I put it to you, can't survive no longer. Maybe the lobbyist is more of a
• 06:30 - 07:00 creator for something greater. Which brings me to my second talk, which is how do we use perception as a tool as lobbyists? Let's go back to the magician who attracts to detract. Have you ever seen or did you remember? Because I remember being a child and see that magician with smoke and mirrors. You know why smoke? Because if you see smoke, you're looking at it.
• 07:00 - 07:30 You think there must be a fire. So, you're really attentive. Why mirrors? Because mirrors can make things look smaller. They can make things look bigger. They can even distort. So the magician can do fantastic things at that moment. But you know what? Got to be careful because once the magic is gone, what's left? You can be disappointed
• 07:30 - 08:00 like a pack of cards. So let's look at the lobbyist using perception as a tool. And where do the smoke and mirrors come? If you are going to truly be a creator for something greater, you have to go beyond the smoke and mirrors. If you're going to get government to act amongst this cacophony of sounds, all those noises, all those interests, the smoke and the mirrors, all that. Some people saying it's
• 08:00 - 08:30 bigger, some people saying it's smaller. You've got to go beyond. I'm going to give you an example. Little baby white seals sitting on a piece of ice. Does that conjure up an image for you? Some of you may even have the image of the little white seal covered in blood. That's a 40-year-old picture. The example is comes from the animal welfare industry industry the
• 08:30 - 09:00 animal welfare lobby on the one hand and the fur industry on the other. Now, if any of you didn't feel something about that little white seal, you will be perceived as being uncaring, uh, cruel, indifferent, with no sense of what's really important. But let's look at the other side, the fur trade. It's an industry that has also operated for hundreds of years. As a Canadian, I can tell you the
• 09:00 - 09:30 Canadian government feels very strongly about the need to continue allowing those Inuit and those indigenous communities to survive. They feel that they have been producing goods that people have worn and bought at a fair price, that's allowed them to employ people, that's allowed them to grow with taxation. So why in 40 years did nothing really happen but just lots of noise, lots of smoke, maybe some mirrors? Well,
• 09:30 - 10:00 something did happen 5 years ago. The European government put in a ban for all products from SEALs into Europe. How did that happen? Well, lobbyists creating something greater hopefully. First they looked at timing. Timing is everything. They say the timing was just before Europe was facing its last big change of government. So
• 10:00 - 10:30 huh do the government of Europe or the issues of accountability want to be seen as cruel, caring, unaccountable to their citizens when all this stuff is happening? No. If you go beyond the smoke and mirrors though, what government is also going to care about is tax money. So let's look at the trade. Let's really look at this fur trade. You know the mirrors, big figures, small figures. I did some homework to make sure I was correct.
• 10:30 - 11:00 Sometimes I see 3 million. Sometimes he 6 million. Sometimes people are talking about dollars, Canadian or US, bit different or sometimes euro. But it's not 60 million. It's not 600 million. It's not six billion. Whatever it is in terms of trade, suddenly the lobbyist showed that maybe the money wasn't such a big issue. So government can put that side of the issue aside. Inuit communities indigenous. Well, guess
• 11:00 - 11:30 what? If lobbyists are worth their salt, they'll go beyond the issues and those iconographic images of the poor seal and they'll say what about those communities? So what they do is they work on measures um effectively uh exceptions so that those communities can continue to hand seals and that they can continue to do it in a sustainable way with fair methodology to allow those people to
• 11:30 - 12:00 survive and continue to live on what they've always lived on. What about other governments? What about the Canadian government? What about the Norwegian government? Those exemptions cannot happen without the lobbyist getting involved and listening to all the sides in order to get government to act. That's how it happened. So the lobbyist role sure very important the smoke and and mirrors. I mean, we were all taken in by the magician because the world is so full of
• 12:00 - 12:30 noise that unless you make an effort to draw attention as a lobbyist, you're not going to get the attention. That smoke in that mirrors creates the space for a discussion. And then when you're in the discussion comes the real hard work, comes the facts, comes the statistics, the science, and comes the reality. And the reality is the world in which we live. So I would like to um conclude my uh
• 12:30 - 13:00 treatise on lobbying and how we use perception with an example of a guy who changed the world that we know today. His name is Tim Berners Lee and in n a a most unassuming British physicist 1989 19 Yeah. 25 years ago, 25 years ago, 25 year anniversary, he created the worldwide web. If you ask him, if you hear him
• 13:00 - 13:30 being interviewed, you know what he says? He said, "Well, I just happened to be the right person at the right time doing the right thing." You know, he was more than that. He had a vision. He immediately saw that governments were going to perceive the worldwide web as a massive tax boom. And let's face it, we are in an economic situation where money speaks. He also saw
• 13:30 - 14:00 corporations massive area of technology. The world is about technology now and where it's going to. He saw corporations perceived this as being a big money winner for them. For the last 25 years, this guy has tirelessly fought so that his vision of a free web would remain untaxed and free and open for everyone. And it's not an easy thing because you
• 14:00 - 14:30 can imagine how many pressures there would be on that. He got citizens groups together. He takes every opportunity. He went systematically this lone person whose natural tendency is not being the communicator being the connector but just being somebody who believed in what he was doing. He went and spoke to governments individually to tell them this is what we want to do. So what I put to
• 14:30 - 15:00 you is Tim Berners Lee who's given us if you remember in the Olympics those of you who saw it it lit up the whole stadium in the UK and it said this is for everyone. No smoke, no mirrors, just a fabulous example of tireless and exemplary lobbying.
• 15:00 - 15:30 [Music]