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.