Post in I am a citizen not a consumer

Jul 22 19:45 UTC

On 22-Jul-08, at 12:45 PM, Simon Smith asks:
> But why set up an opposition between the roles of customer and
> citizen? Can't we do/be both?

(I assume that is  rhetorical question and not central to your
identity, so I will challenge the idea and hope you take no personal
offense.)

I'd say no, we cannot perform both roles at the same time on the same
topic in the same way.

However we could juggle the two roles like this:   I was in a coffee
shop having a lively spontaneous discussion about the possible closure
of the neighbourhood school. I was having this discussion with some
neighbours and the school trustee who seems to hang out in this
particular shop.
- Citizens were having a discussion.
- Consumers bought cups of coffee.
They were the same biological life forms in the same space and time
but purchasing coffee and discussing politics were quite different
activities.

Here's the distinction I impose on the definitions.
The word "consumer" explicitly identifies one half of a transactional
relationship -- the half that pays for something.
Citizen implies a state of being. I could be three-legged, purple
skinned, and mentally eccentric BUT intrinsically a citizen of the
place where I was born. I was a citizen before I was a consumer and
will remain one afterwards too.
Calling citizens consumers is an attempt to diminish the role -- a
subtle coup when applied to political discussions instead of economic
transactions.

Using the term "consumer" to describe citizens in a public
consultation process implies that "someone else" actually "owns" the
public realm where discourse can occur. If I accept the term then I am
delivering even more power to those who claim ownership of political
power, what I jokingly call "autodisempowerment".  As a result, a) in
the future I will need to "pay" for access to discussions that affect
me, and b) I get to whine, complain, blame, and resent.

"Citizen" implies that I have the right -- even an obligation -- to
discuss and act on the issues that affect everyone. I may not have
absolute power over any singular decision, but I live among and am
affected by my fellows. I am a citizen when I volunteer and whenever I
demonstrate care.

So I implore public officials to refer to me as a "citizen" when I am
engaged in discourse about public issues on any level.  When you are
selling me something, you place me in the role of "consumer" so when
one starts by calling me a "consumer" I assume they have something to
sell.

By typing out these lines in this forum I am participating as a
citizen because there is no transaction, not even of the ideas I am
sharing.  Perhaps I should print and sell a t-shirt that exclaims,
"I'm a citizen not a consumer!"

naw. Some other time.

Have a wonderful day.

John Miller (BA, MA, CPF, CTF)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.