Upton Sinclair on Lobbyists

Someone paid to petition the government on someone else’s behalf.

“I know that we began in a competitive world, and I have no quarrel with the past. I am looking toward the future; and I say that when men compete with one another for wealth they produce poverty for themselves. They duplicate plants, they over-produce, they adulterate goods, they lie about their products, they spy upon one another, they buy special favors from government officials, they subsidize lobbyists and politicians, and build up political machines, and ultimately undermine the practice of Democracy. For all such forms of waste the consumer pays.”

Upton Sinclair, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked (1934).