# Aye or Nay on a "Reform Negotiator"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [May 18, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639 "2013-05-18T00:03:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![itsharkley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7993a0/32.png) [@itsharkley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/itsharkley)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/1 "2013-05-18T00:03:01Z")

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“Company Intervener”  
“Production influencer”  
Whatever.  
Do you, like me, believe that there should be an occupation that speaks for the majority by vote, that goes around negotiating with current companies on changing their ways?

“Hey, Honda! Mind stop producing gas cars and invest on going electric all the way?”  
(I couldn’t think of leverages to persuade Honda to listen, so I’ll leave this parentheses.)

What do you think? A practical idea? Or no?

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**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/2 "2013-05-18T00:07:03Z")

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> [@itsharkley](#):
>
> Do you, like me, believe that there should be an occupation that speaks for the majority by vote, that goes around negotiating with current companies on changing their ways?

A “union representative”?

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**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/3 "2013-05-18T00:08:33Z")

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Doesn’t Honda’s marketing division already do this, and in much greater depth than listening to one representative?

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**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/4 "2013-05-18T00:13:00Z")

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Substitute “client” for “majority by vote”, expand “negotiation” to include “litigation” and the occupation already exits. We call them lawyers.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/5 "2013-05-18T00:40:56Z")

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Isn’t the OP basically talking about organizing grass-roots campaigns? Like when public protests got the tuna companies to switch to dolphin-safe nets?

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**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/6 "2013-05-18T01:04:51Z")

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> [@itsharkley](#):
>
> Do you, like me, believe that there should be an occupation that speaks for the majority by vote, that goes around negotiating with current companies on changing their ways?
> 
> “Hey, Honda! Mind stop producing gas cars and invest on going electric all the way?”  
> (I couldn’t think of leverages to persuade Honda to listen, so I’ll leave this parentheses.)
> 
> What do you think? A practical idea? Or no?

Who pays this person? In reality, of course, it would have to be a huge organization full of people. So, who pays? Are you suggesting this be a government function?

We also seem to already have such organizations, like The Sierra Club. They raise money through donations, I believe.

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**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\
**Post date:** [May 18, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aye-or-nay-on-a-reform-negotiator/658639/7 "2013-05-18T02:55:14Z")

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We already have those. They work at the office of Washington, Lincoln, Jackson, and Franklin.