The Limits of Consumer Choice as a Democratizing Medium

I used to think capitalism was inherently evil. It just seemed like, by its very nature, it created a distorted distribution of wealth, and put one person against the other in pursuit of elusive riches. Whether or not this is true, for the time being, it is our economic reality. So recently I've been trying to figure out how to work within this system.

I began thinking about how consumer choice has the ability to be a truly democratic means of governing corporations. If a consumer agrees with the practices and policies of a corporation, then they buy the product. If not, then they don't.

The problem with consumer choice are the clogs in information flow within our system. The consumer is not fully informed as to the practices of corporations, so they do not make fully informed choices. Much of this has to do with the media, or the lack there of. Fewer corporations owning more and more media outlets spells disaster for the free flow of information.

B.H. Bagdian made reference to this when he talked about the growing amalgamation of media outlets in this article The Endless Chain. He argues that corporations fight for more media domination for two reasons: money and influence.

The problem for the consumer lies in the fact that the media controls information. Without free flowing information, there is no free choice. Bagdian states : "In a democracy, the answer to government power is accountability, which means giving voters full information and real choices. In the media business it is not different; monopoly and concentrated control diminish real choice."

There is light at the end of this dark, bleak tunnel. The internet is becoming more and more a means of unclogging the information flow. Sites like Wikipedia, and the creations of weblogs is a testament to this. The limits to the internet, at the moment, has to do with accessibility. Information is only free and representative if everyone is connected.

Staying Connected to the Community

Despite growing up in an age dominated by the introduction of the internet, there have been times when I've been resistant to these changes in information exchange. Partially because the internet removes the need for face to face contact in order to obtain information, but also because the internet cannot replace real life experience.

However, it is starting to become apparent to me that perhaps the internet has a great potential to connect isolated individuals and groups. In Technology and the Circumpolar Village, V. Alia states "...new technologies could link with old ways and support an array of Inuit-run cultural literacy and communications projects." (Alia, 140). The internet could be a culturally unifying force.

What made me realize the truth of this idea was when I stumbled upon the CBC radio 3 website (http://radio3.cbc.ca) . I have always been a music fan, but have been disappointed in the dominant medias' (MuchMusic and MTV) representation of emerging Canadian artists. What CBC has done for Canadian music is create a centralized community, representative of artists from across the country, and dedicated to getting Canadian talent recognized. This creates a 'community of Canadian music', strengthening the connection of even isolated individuals to Canadian artistic expression.