I feel weird writing this because the core of the argument is almost metaphysical for me. I believe that attention is the most powerful thing in the world and I have a very deep sense that whatever we pay attention to -- whether positively or negatively -- we bring more of into the universe. [ 1]
Patrick MacKenzie once noted that if you want a problem solved, you give it to someone as a project. If you don't want a problem to be solved, you give it to someone as a job [ 2].
"The Department of X, for the 25th straight year, has reported that they did a lot about X, that they have made progress on initiatives A, B, and C with metrics to show for it, that X is nonetheless more pressing than last year, and that they need more headcount."
If you're anti-capitalist, you need capitalism. If you're anti-communist, you need communism. "Any PR is good PR". Any attention is good attention. If you're anti-something it means that something exists and it's important enough to be anti-it. In fact, the bigger it is, the better for your career.