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Cows are consumers... Hogs are consumers... Consumers are commodities that are fattened until they're slaughtered! Words have significance on both conscious and

Cows are consumers... Hogs are consumers... Consumers are commodities that are fattened until they're slaughtered! Words have significance on both conscious and subliminal levels. How about "Bunnies are consumers. Kittens are consumers. Consumers are cute and fluffy!" Actually, consumers are, umm, those who consume things. As opposed to producers. If you've got some subliminal association between consumption and livestock, well, that's you.

sp332 16y ago
"Consumer" is a useful term in economics, but it has negative stereotypical meanings in everyday use.
- jamesbritt 16y ago
  "negative stereotypical meanings in everyday use." For whom? And when does it come up in "everyday use"? I mean, aside from being used by economists or businesses when talking about economics or business?
  - SkyMarshal 16y ago
    You should read up on the historical development of the use of language and linguistics to shape culture and society, both from the advertising industry and from the feminist movement. The contemporary labeling of citizens as consumers is no accident, and not just an artifact of the mainstreaming of the economics field.
deleted 16y ago
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gruseom 16y ago
I don't think it's subliminal. The issue isn't the technical meaning of "consumer" but the fact that it has replaced "citizen" as the default for referring to human beings in our society. Humans walk, but one would never hear "What does this mean for walkers?" in a news item, unless of course it were a news item about traffic or something. The implication of this usage of "consumer" is that consumption isn't just something we do, it's what we are. That is deeply fucked. I couldn't care less about the political agenda of everybody-should-consume-less, but the idea that humans' primary role in society is not to be active members of a polity (the meaning of "citizen") but rather essentially to eat things, is a violation of our best traditions and intuitions. We are called to more than that. The replacement of "citizen" with "consumer" is as significant as the replacement of "subject" with "citizen" was in the first place.
- michael_dorfman 16y ago
  Where do you see "consumer" used with "citizen" would do better? Besides the Consumer Protection Agency (where it is completely appropriate), I can't remember hearing it used by the government. I only hear "What does this mean for consumers?" when it is in reference to prices, or purchasing, etc. "What does this mean for citizens?" only makes sense when discussing civic issues. Could you provide a concrete example of the mis-use you claim is rife?
  - gruseom 16y ago
    Next time I see one I'll try to remember to come back and post it here. In the meantime, any suggestions for how we can measure this? One crude measure: Google comes up with 88M hits for "citizen" and 270M for "consumer".
    - codingthewheel 16y ago
      Searchable full-text databases of political speeches. I've done it. You'll find both words used all over the place, with roughly the same meaning.
  - codingthewheel 16y ago
    I see "consumer" used in place of "citizen" all over the place where it shouldn't be and frankly, I find it a little disingenuous that you're even arguing this point. Obama: "And we created hospital report cards, so that every consumer could see things like the ratio of nurses to patients" Americans/Westerners are widely seen, referred to, treated as, and labelled as "consumers" the world over. This is common parlance. This is accepted. "Citizen" is becoming synonymous with "consumer" and this is a Very Bad Thing. You're welcome to disagree, and if so, I'm welcome to tell you that I think our education system has failed you. Do a search in any political speech database for these two words and you'll find they are interchangeable.
    - philwelch 16y ago
      Hospitals provide (or produce) services, and patients consume them. That's entirely apropos. That's a perfect example of "consumer" used in its correct economic context.
CapitalistCartr 16y ago
It's not a matter of whether we're consumers or producers; it's that, for purposes of government, that's not the relevant appellation. We're citizens. Citizens have a government that serves their interests. Consumers are passive; the sheep some politicians prefer. A consumer might raise Cain over a corporate made product, but not over a government policy; that's something a citizen would do. Labels matter.
- philwelch 16y ago
  Specifics matter. Please give several valid examples of the word "consumer" being used by contemporary Western politicians where "citizen" would be more appropriate. And no, a single example--or an expression of disbelief that not everyone agrees with you--will simply not do here.

sp332 16y ago

"Consumer" is a useful term in economics, but it has negative stereotypical meanings in everyday use.

jamesbritt 16y ago
"negative stereotypical meanings in everyday use." For whom? And when does it come up in "everyday use"? I mean, aside from being used by economists or businesses when talking about economics or business?
- SkyMarshal 16y ago
  You should read up on the historical development of the use of language and linguistics to shape culture and society, both from the advertising industry and from the feminist movement. The contemporary labeling of citizens as consumers is no accident, and not just an artifact of the mainstreaming of the economics field.

deleted 16y ago

[deleted]

gruseom 16y ago

I don't think it's subliminal. The issue isn't the technical meaning of "consumer" but the fact that it has replaced "citizen" as the default for referring to human beings in our society. Humans walk, but one would never hear "What does this mean for walkers?" in a news item, unless of course it were a news item about traffic or something. The implication of this usage of "consumer" is that consumption isn't just something we do, it's what we are. That is deeply fucked. I couldn't care less about the political agenda of everybody-should-consume-less, but the idea that humans' primary role in society is not to be active members of a polity (the meaning of "citizen") but rather essentially to eat things, is a violation of our best traditions and intuitions. We are called to more than that. The replacement of "citizen" with "consumer" is as significant as the replacement of "subject" with "citizen" was in the first place.

michael_dorfman 16y ago
Where do you see "consumer" used with "citizen" would do better? Besides the Consumer Protection Agency (where it is completely appropriate), I can't remember hearing it used by the government. I only hear "What does this mean for consumers?" when it is in reference to prices, or purchasing, etc. "What does this mean for citizens?" only makes sense when discussing civic issues. Could you provide a concrete example of the mis-use you claim is rife?
- gruseom 16y ago
  Next time I see one I'll try to remember to come back and post it here. In the meantime, any suggestions for how we can measure this? One crude measure: Google comes up with 88M hits for "citizen" and 270M for "consumer".
  - codingthewheel 16y ago
    Searchable full-text databases of political speeches. I've done it. You'll find both words used all over the place, with roughly the same meaning.
- codingthewheel 16y ago
  I see "consumer" used in place of "citizen" all over the place where it shouldn't be and frankly, I find it a little disingenuous that you're even arguing this point. Obama: "And we created hospital report cards, so that every consumer could see things like the ratio of nurses to patients" Americans/Westerners are widely seen, referred to, treated as, and labelled as "consumers" the world over. This is common parlance. This is accepted. "Citizen" is becoming synonymous with "consumer" and this is a Very Bad Thing. You're welcome to disagree, and if so, I'm welcome to tell you that I think our education system has failed you. Do a search in any political speech database for these two words and you'll find they are interchangeable.
  - philwelch 16y ago
    Hospitals provide (or produce) services, and patients consume them. That's entirely apropos. That's a perfect example of "consumer" used in its correct economic context.

CapitalistCartr 16y ago

It's not a matter of whether we're consumers or producers; it's that, for purposes of government, that's not the relevant appellation. We're citizens. Citizens have a government that serves their interests. Consumers are passive; the sheep some politicians prefer. A consumer might raise Cain over a corporate made product, but not over a government policy; that's something a citizen would do. Labels matter.

philwelch 16y ago
Specifics matter. Please give several valid examples of the word "consumer" being used by contemporary Western politicians where "citizen" would be more appropriate. And no, a single example--or an expression of disbelief that not everyone agrees with you--will simply not do here.