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We all live on some spectrum of consumer vs. producer. Some entrepreneurs (classic producers) never stop being primarily producers. Those are the people who r

We all live on some spectrum of consumer vs. producer. Some entrepreneurs (classic producers) never stop being primarily producers. Those are the people who remain frugal and are indifferent about their fortunes. Others fall toward the consumer end of the spectrum, and sometimes lose their way. I think it's universally true that producing is always better than consuming, but perhaps someone will refute that point convincingly.

jrspruitt 15y ago
I totally agree with you. To me the producer is already doing what they enjoy doing, the financial gains are a side effect, and will pretty much just be used as funding to buy what's needed for them to keep producing. Would be like someone who enjoys running a business, the money is a part of it, but not the only goal, it blurs the line between hobby and work. The consumer spends their time consuming, the side effect of that is waste, once the consumption is over, the thrill is gone, the usefulness, if there was any, runs dry, it's tossed aside, as something new needs to be consumed. There are things I want, that are not needed for my survival, but they are things I actually enjoy having, they serve some constructive purpose. I don't understand buying stuff just to buy stuff, just to have a new car, or just to have the latest version, it doesn't make sense. I think that is where some people that come into lots of money go wrong, spending it becomes their hobby, with out a job you got a lot of free time to keep yourself entertained. Producers would seem to inherently have the ability to deal with that free time in a much more fiscally responsible manor.
meric 15y ago
For society: Society rewards production better than consumption. Yet, when you think about it, when no one consumes, the value of production becomes zero, too. Perhaps my initial sentence should be changed to: Consumers reward producers. They're like a pair of chopsticks. For individuals: One could argue that when possible, consuming is always better than producing. You're swapping pieces of paper for real goods and services! We're sort of fortunate that programming counts as "production" while playing computer games count as "consumption", and we're more interested in the former than the latter. I see it as just how the world works; "Fate" if you will. (I'm not religious, though). EDIT: I save as much as possible and program lots, while my brother spends almost every dollar of his paycheck. So I'm biased.
- sunchild 15y ago
  You make a great point in general, but especially about gaming. It's not hard to imagine a world where "gamification" eventually leads to productive outlets that appear to be "games". In fact, we already have this in crude forms all over the place, e.g., bonuses and promotions in the corporate and military context. That's where the lines get very blurry. I really like your point about production being useless without consumers, but I suspect that there will never be a shortage of consumers.
- jrspruitt 15y ago
  We are very consumer based, at some level even the producers are just consumers, that use what they consume to create something else for someone else to consume usually. I would say that is just part of our way of living, in a society of people. The only way for us to have no consumers, is if we are all self sustaining, hunter gatherers really. Perhaps at one point our species was consumerless, but the fact is, we work way better in a group, which means there will be consumers. I like turning steel into usable objects, I don't like mining it, there for I must be a consumer at some level. If I was forced to produce everything I needed to build something complex, like say a PCB board and components, it would take a life time to get everything necessary to produce something not all that spectacular. I think the "bad" part of consumerism, is more a psychological state, like using drugs to escape a problem. Consuming on its own, isn't necessarily bad and you're right, very necessary. Perhaps its all psychologically based, I feel better building something, more than I do just waiting around for the next movie, or video game to distract me from my life. But really, whats the difference if what I produced just ends up sitting in the corner collecting dust, why I'm building something else? In that sense, being a Producer, requires a Consumer, someone else to find what you have made useful. Otherwise all I've been is a consumer. Producing at worst, is a consumer, at best, helping make society a better place. Consumer at best is a Producer, at worst, just collecting, and creating a market, for junk to be eventually thrown away.

jrspruitt 15y ago

I totally agree with you. To me the producer is already doing what they enjoy doing, the financial gains are a side effect, and will pretty much just be used as funding to buy what's needed for them to keep producing. Would be like someone who enjoys running a business, the money is a part of it, but not the only goal, it blurs the line between hobby and work. The consumer spends their time consuming, the side effect of that is waste, once the consumption is over, the thrill is gone, the usefulness, if there was any, runs dry, it's tossed aside, as something new needs to be consumed. There are things I want, that are not needed for my survival, but they are things I actually enjoy having, they serve some constructive purpose. I don't understand buying stuff just to buy stuff, just to have a new car, or just to have the latest version, it doesn't make sense. I think that is where some people that come into lots of money go wrong, spending it becomes their hobby, with out a job you got a lot of free time to keep yourself entertained. Producers would seem to inherently have the ability to deal with that free time in a much more fiscally responsible manor.

meric 15y ago

For society: Society rewards production better than consumption. Yet, when you think about it, when no one consumes, the value of production becomes zero, too. Perhaps my initial sentence should be changed to: Consumers reward producers. They're like a pair of chopsticks. For individuals: One could argue that when possible, consuming is always better than producing. You're swapping pieces of paper for real goods and services! We're sort of fortunate that programming counts as "production" while playing computer games count as "consumption", and we're more interested in the former than the latter. I see it as just how the world works; "Fate" if you will. (I'm not religious, though). EDIT: I save as much as possible and program lots, while my brother spends almost every dollar of his paycheck. So I'm biased.

sunchild 15y ago
You make a great point in general, but especially about gaming. It's not hard to imagine a world where "gamification" eventually leads to productive outlets that appear to be "games". In fact, we already have this in crude forms all over the place, e.g., bonuses and promotions in the corporate and military context. That's where the lines get very blurry. I really like your point about production being useless without consumers, but I suspect that there will never be a shortage of consumers.
jrspruitt 15y ago
We are very consumer based, at some level even the producers are just consumers, that use what they consume to create something else for someone else to consume usually. I would say that is just part of our way of living, in a society of people. The only way for us to have no consumers, is if we are all self sustaining, hunter gatherers really. Perhaps at one point our species was consumerless, but the fact is, we work way better in a group, which means there will be consumers. I like turning steel into usable objects, I don't like mining it, there for I must be a consumer at some level. If I was forced to produce everything I needed to build something complex, like say a PCB board and components, it would take a life time to get everything necessary to produce something not all that spectacular. I think the "bad" part of consumerism, is more a psychological state, like using drugs to escape a problem. Consuming on its own, isn't necessarily bad and you're right, very necessary. Perhaps its all psychologically based, I feel better building something, more than I do just waiting around for the next movie, or video game to distract me from my life. But really, whats the difference if what I produced just ends up sitting in the corner collecting dust, why I'm building something else? In that sense, being a Producer, requires a Consumer, someone else to find what you have made useful. Otherwise all I've been is a consumer. Producing at worst, is a consumer, at best, helping make society a better place. Consumer at best is a Producer, at worst, just collecting, and creating a market, for junk to be eventually thrown away.