Lewis Bollard

And I wish this wasn't the way the system worked.

Like I wish instead that politicians were actually just responsive to what the voters want.

But given this is how the system works, I think that what people need to do is to bind together with a couple of other friends who care about this issue, max out on your donations to a politician, and then meet with the politician and say, I really care about this.

And I'm watching what you do on this issue.

And I think that if enough people did that, and frankly, you don't even need to just start donating.

A lot of people listening to this

who probably already donate significant amounts to politicians.

And if they started saying to those politicians, by the way, this is something I really care about, and I'm watching what you do on this issue, I think you would start to see the political dynamic change.

Yeah, it's a real puzzle.

I mean, this is an industry that accounts for less than 1% of Americans.

It's trying to defend wildly unpopular practices.

And doesn't even get that much money.

And yet somehow they have this total lock on the legislative process where they can stop any animal welfare legislation from passing.

I think there are a couple of things going on.

So I think the first thing is it's not just them.

They are fighting alongside of the entire agriculture industry.

There are allied industries like the insurance industry, the pharma industry that have a big stake in factory farming.

They also, it's not just the money.

So they appeal to this mythos of the American farmer.

People think the American farmer is the good, hardworking, salt of the earth person.