The reality is that The Consumer is not, in fact, a boss. Actually, consumers are impotent to do anything except buy or not buy what is being sold. But consumers cannot meaningfully change the price, a product or service’s features, or even what is or isn’t being sold. After all, there is no buying decision that will protect you from the factory defect that causes the car behind you to lose its breaks. There is no ethical consumption choice that will make it so slaves aren’t harvesting the shrimp in your grocery store’s freezer section. There is no t-shirt, no concert ticket, no metal water bottle you can buy that can stop companies from exploiting children, abusing animals, or destroying the planet. You can buy what is available, for the price that is set to maximize profits, or you can go without. What power is there in that?

Put simply, consumers are not the boss of businesses. Businesses control businesses. And a lot of the time (through marketing, policy, etc.), businesses control consumers.

This is the dark magic of insisting that “consumer” is a powerful identity, and that consumption is a powerful act. It gives industry a pass to do whatever is most profitable and then blame it on the “all-powerful” consumer. It also convinces ordinary people that when they buy things, they’re doing something beyond creating profits for a company (which they’re not). And at the same time, it erodes our awareness of and connection to the real power we have as ordinary people.

FROM:

sarahmock.substack.com

(5) We Were (Never) Consumers - By Sarah Mock

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