Post in I am a citizen not a consumer

Best,
   Steve

John Miller wrote:
> 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.
>
>
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