Sean Thomson, Siyuan (Jack) He, Alan Christopher, Niranjan Kumar, binyi liu

1.)  While strictly speaking, a lobbyist hosting a senator on an expensive yacht does not yield ethical implications within itself, the problem arises when a fake competition is contrived in order to legitimize the monopolization of a particular business or technology. It is not the lobbyist’s responsibility for a politician to fall under influence of lobbying techniques, this is the politician’s responsibility.

2.)  The problem here is that cultural norms tend to become ethical standards, and subcultural norms of lobbying and politics are migrating away from societal norms at large. This leads to a societal acceptance of unethical professional practice such as bribery and corruption and results in unfair restrictions on the well-being of common people.