Last week Consumerist.com conducted a poll of its readers asking whether they thought of themselves first and foremost as consumers or citizens. It wasn’t exactly scientific, but nearly 70% of people responded that they thought of themselves as citizens first.
Our somewhat schizophrenic nature as American citizen/ consumers, is also a hot topic of discussion this week in relation to a new book out by former-Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich called “Supercapitalism: The Transformation of Business, Democracy, and Everyday Life.” The San Francisco Chronicle, in its review, defines “supercapitalism” as the “relentless global drive to reduce the price of everything.” Reich argues:
that Americans are of two minds with regard to this ceaseless cost reduction. As consumers and investors, we cheer the flip side of trends that, as citizens and wage earners, we abhor. To those looking for a villain, Reich gently suggests it isn’t Wal-Mart or corporate big shots. Or at least they aren’t solely responsible. It is we as consumers and bargain hunters who crack the cost-reduction whip.
Maybe the respondents were all lying to Consumerist while making secret guilty trips to Wal-Mart (or maybe Consumerist readers are not a representative sample). But then again, Wal-Mart isn’t doing all that well. It also could be that the tide is turning away from pure, low-cost consumerism and toward a (slightly) greater focus on good citizenship.
And companies can make money from this switch, writes Mark R. Kramer in a Harvard Business Review Conversation Starter blog post handily entitled, “Why Robert Reich is Wrong About Corporate Social Responsibility.” He argues that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is not an expensive extra, or a distraction from the government’s responsibility to regulate industry. He points out that CSR can be sound business.
American car companies have done a magnificent job lobbying to prevent higher mileage and lower emission requirements for two decades, only to face near-bankruptcy as Toyota’s wildly successful Prius fills the very niche they have spent so much money to avoid.
Treating Americans as consumers who demand low prices has made a lot of people a lot of money. There is money to be made in treating them as citizens too.
(Image of Prius by Leonid Mamchenkov, CC 2.0)
