Just another WTF??? -- Citizens or Consumers What are we now?

[jokerman93]

Did anyone catch Neal Conan on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" today? His show focused on "Law Enforcement and the Mentally Ill". The federal marshall's shooting of a mentally ill man the other day has obviously sparked a discussion on the topic. Conan had a guy on there who is a police Major from Ohio (I think it was). The man went on for nearly five minutes describing all the outreach his police departments have been doing regarding this issue. What he was describing was in fact market research to citizen focus groups he called "consumers". Normally I would expect people referred to in a civic/civil context like this to be called citizens. This man never used the word. He kept talking about how they were meeting with "consumers", local consumers, concerned consumers, for the consumers, consumer groups, consumer sector and so on... The guy must have used the word a dozen times!

:wtf:

I have to say, the whole spiel gave me the creeps. This high ranking law officer's obviously intentional choice of words to refer to tax paying citizens as consumers disturbed me. Is this part of the newspeak lexicon we're going to have to endure as the Neocon/Bushworld becomes increasingly corrupt, privatized, and corporatized?

Listening to this slick bastard refer to American citizens as "consumers" was like watching another bad sequel to Robocop...

Has anyone else heard this usage recently? Are we being reframed again? Is Democracy dead???


The show:

http://www.kqed.org/programs/radio/archive.jsp?progID=RD44

Tue, December 13, 2005 -- 11:00am

Law Enforcement and the Mentally Ill -- Last week's shooting at the Miami airport highlights a difficult issue for law enforcement: how to deal with the mentally ill in a potentially violent situation. Neal Conan and guests discuss how police and other first responders are learning to interact with a mentally ill person in crisis

[lectrobyte]

1. It's all about the corporations now. Get use to corporate speak.

And hope you remain a "preferred customer" for a while.

[alfredo]

2. Frame: Pro Privatization Republicans see us as Consumers, not

Citizens. Instead of being public servants, they are managers, supervisors, executives. They sell their programs or ideology for our consumption. We either buy or not. That is the extent of a consumers' participation.

A citizen is active in the affairs of their community.
A consumer is passive, buying what is presented.

[Warpy]

3. Yeah, before the 1950s, we were customers

which implied that we made choices as to what we'd purchase and which businesses we'd patronize.

However, with monopolization in banking, media, and many other things, we're seen as mindless eaters, robots who will take what we're offered and be grateful.

The last thing they want us to think we are is citizens. Citizens have rights as well as choices.

[glitch]

4. The first time I heard it (also on NPR) about 7 years ago, it shocked me.

This was by a politician (republican female is all I remember) about a civic issue that had nothing to do with markets or even consumption in a general domestic governmental interest way.
It was so bizarre I figure someone was trying to get a meme going. Sounds like they are still at it, and fortunately, considering your shock at hearing it, rather unsuccessful.

Signed, still a citizen.

[jokerman93]

5. Scary, huh?

In revolutionary times in Europe, people proudly addressed each other as "Citizen {name goes here}".

Citizen J.