{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Support Your Local Collaborator","description":"Every few weeks, a Trump administration official comes up with an insane plan that would devastate some American industry, region, or demographic. Maybe an Undersecretary of the Interior decides that aluminum is \u201cwoke\u201d and should be banned. They circulate a draft order saying it will be illegal for US companies to use aluminum, starting in two weeks, Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter. Next begins a frantic scramble on the parts of everyone affected, trying to make them back down. Industry lobbies, think tanks, and public intellectuals exchange frantic emails, starting with \u201cThey said WHAT?\u201d, progressing on to \u201cOh God we are so fucked\u201d, and occasionally ending in some kind of plan. Sending letters. Phoning members of Congress. Calling up that one lobbyist who had a fancy dinner with Trump a year ago and is still riding that high to claim he has vast administration influence. I\u2019ve been on the periphery of a handful of these campaigns, usually in medicine or AI. The common thread is that protests by liberals rarely work. The Trump administration loves offending liberals! If every Democratic member of Congress condemns the plan to ban aluminum, that just proves that aluminum really was \u201cwoke\u201d, and makes them want to do it more. What works, sometimes, is objections\/protests from Republicans and Trump supporters. These are hard to get. Trump supporters might support the insane plan. Even if they don\u2019t, they might be nervous to speak up or appear disloyal. You\u2019ve got to find someone who\u2019s supported Trump until now, built up a reputation for loyalty, but this one time they finally snap and cash in some of their favors and agree to speak out. Sometimes it\u2019s because they\u2019re an aluminum magnate themselves and this would destroy their business. Other times they\u2019re just a think tank guy or influencer who happens to be really knowledgeable on this one issue and willing to take a stand on it. By such people is the world preserved. https:\/\/readscottalexander.com\/posts\/acx-support-your-local-collaborator ","author_name":"Astral Codex Ten Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/sscpodcast.libsyn.com\/website","html":"