Contemporary Consumerism among Citizens - Essay Example

Majority of the economy in the world relies on the production of several goods and rendering services to produce income that would benefit its constituents and the country as a whole. In dealing with this, it is very important to instill and inculcate to the minds of the people to patronize products and services that are provided by the country in order to further improve the economic situation of a certain country. In this case, the awareness of the consumers must be awaken regarding the purchase and utilization of goods and services that are produced and provided by the local workers and the country where they are considered as a citizen and constituent of it. In dealing with this kind of argument and in practicing the aforementioned premise, it is very important to know that the consumerism of a certain constituent must be awakened due to the fact that majority of the economists suggests the significance of it. On the second thought economist would not suggest such a thing if they have not seen or observed the importance of practicing it. The website thefreedictionary.com (2007) gave two definitions regarding consumerism. The first one was stated as "the theory that an increasing consumption of goods is economically beneficial, economic theory - (economics) a theory of commercial activities (such as the production and consumption of goods)" and the other one as "a movement advocating greater protection of the interests of consumers crusade, campaign, cause, drive, effort, movement - a series of actions advancing a principle or tending toward a particular end" If we are to tackle the issue with regards to the contribution of citizenship to it, consumerism as a theory on increasing of consumption of goods is beneficial, and then this claim would be in effect if the support of the citizen pertaining local goods and services is evident. In this case, it would be safe to conclude that citizens could be a pendulum on the rise or fall of the economy of a certain country. In this case, to be able for the products to be consumed and for further production of goods and rendering of services, the support from the local market is needed in order to boost the sales and to further expand the market of the aforementioned goods and services. The first thing that a local consumer must consider and think is the fact that local products are dependent on local consumers and local market and producers deem the importance of local market more than foreign market- the need here is the support of the local market in order for the local products to earn its name and made an impact to the society. Like the stages that most of the producers and marketers undertake, considering and penetrating the local market is their outmost priority in order to earn its reputation and to be able to penetrate a much higher market like the foreign market. In this case, it is established that the need of the support of the local citizens where the product has been produced. To further understand the aforementioned premise and the study per se, it is important to know the definition of citizens as a local market. The definition as well as recognition of these people as an important part of consumerism would further help us in analyzing their participation in this study. The website wikipedia.com (2007) implied two meaning with regards to citizenship. The first definition reads as "citizenship is membership in a political community (originally a city or town but now usually a country) and carries with it rights to political participation; a person having such membership is a citizen. It is largely coterminous with nationality, although it is possible to have a nationality without being a citizen (i.e., be legally subject to a state and entitled to its protection without having rights of political participation in it); it is also possible to have political rights without being a national of a state" In the given definition of wikipedia, its second definition seems to be the appropriate area of interest in this study. The next definition staes that "Citizenship often also implies working towards the betterment of one's community through participation, volunteer work, and efforts to improve life for all citizens. This is often referred to as active citizenship. In this vein, schools in England provide lessons in citizenship; in Wales the model used is Personal and Social Education. This kind of definition suggests that citizens aside from being a part of the society has the obligation for the betterment of one's community in order to imporove the life of the citizen and the country as a whole. After laying the facts and premises plus the definition of consumerism and citizenship, then the parallelism of these two as well as their coherence must be established. In this particular case, establishing their connectionand importance with each other would now be laid upon. In the earlier premise of this paper, it is said that the advancement of consumerism with regards to the advancement of the economic status of the country must be practiced. In this case, consumerism would only flourish if there is continous production and purchase of products as well as rendering and demanding of services that are to be utilized by the citizens. It was also stated that citizens of a certain country where the product or the services originates is the primary market. Also, there must be a continous demand for services and products in order to ensure the equality that the produced goods and services is not overproduced which turns the valuable product into surpluss which lessens the selling price and the quality of the product. In the aforementioned premise, consumerism with regards to citenzenship, the role of the citizen must not be limited on the basis of purchasing goods and services but rather now becomes a part of advancing the product in whatever case. It could be contribution on how the product would be sold to neighboring countries or make significant contribution on the betterment of the product from the country. In this case, if we are to deal with the second definition of citizenship, then this kind of premise is appropriate to it. In dealing with this, consumersim could now be regerded as a form of citizenship if we are to apply it on products and services which are produced in the locality or in the particular country where they (consumers) are considered as citizens. To further strenthen and prove that the said premise has its basis, then looking back into the definition of these two would give us the hint to further delve with the claim consumerism as a form of citizenship. In the given premise, citizenship is regarded as an act to futher improve and give contribution for the betterment of a certain society and country per se. If we are to practice consumerism, then it would bring us into the situation of purchasing goods and services and dealing with its deeper perspective would give us the definition of an economic activity designed to ensure the stability of a certain economic situation. In this case, if consumersim pertains to activity for the betterment of the economic status of a certain country through the practice of purchasing and consuming goods and services and citizenship deals with the activity of a certain citizen to uplift a certain country, then consumerism could also be considered as citizenship, provided that the local market and the citizen of a certain country would support its local product. In this case, citizenship through consumerism would be established. Of course, this would also become possible if consumerism would deal and be parcticed through legal matters- legal matters include the likes of securing permit and paying of taxes. If we are to deal with logic's syllogism, then is it proper to deem that consumerism and citizenship is similar and inter-related with each other In this case, the given premise has to be tested in order to determine the basis and validity of this. It is established in the earlier part of this paper that both of these two are beneficial to the society. If that is the case wherein they have their similarities, then looking into the differences of these two is beneficial in order to secure that these two are similar but they perform different functions and are not in all times, inter related with each other. If we are to analyze, consumerism focuses more on the economic side of the country while citizenship is a requisite to be able to be distinguished as a constituent in a certain area in a lower perspective and to further deal with higher perspective has something to do with patriotism. This case could also be attributed with the behavior of the consumers and the citizens residing in a particular country. Having these facts would further bring us to the conclusion that these two would only be beneficial and synonymous with each other, if they are present in a given premise and has established inter-relation with each other. Furthermore, the website ue-varna.bg (2007) states that "Citizen behaviour affects the public life of a nation and consumer behaviour affects the nature of the marketplace, locally and globally. From a citizenship perspective, a good consumer would think twice before making a consumption decision that impacted negatively on the life of citizens in other countries. Conversely, from a consumer perspective, a good citizen would think twice before acting in such a way that their voice in the democratic process is lost or compromised. There is profound interdependence between the political, social and economic spheres. Consumer-citizenship can balance this relationship in synergistic ways. It would enable students to gain an appreciation of the links between the values and principles of the market economy and the values and principles of a democracy, often seen to be at odds with each other" Upon analyzing the given example, then it would take us again to another conclusion that the fusion of these two would be very beneficial to the people who are practicing it and the country in general. In the propagation and the practice of it, consumerism on the basis that it would create tremendous demands on goods and services would require favorable number of jobs and workers to deliver the goods. In this case, it would generate jobs for the people. In addition, if there are production and purchase, then it is considered as trading. In doing such, part of the trading activity includes taxation. If there is a lot of production activity, then there is also a lot of taxation. It is also established that majority of the revenue and income of a certain nation deals with taxes and in this case, the more taxes collected means more revenues for the country. If the country has collected favorable amount of taxes, then it is a good parameter that the economic situation of the country is stable. The stability of the country in an economic perspective is gauged through its financial capability to provide its constituents with different economic and social needs. If we are to further analyze, if the government have collected several amounts of taxes through the practice of consumerism as an example of citizenship, then it would be established that the government would be able to provide social and economic needs of a certain country through building infrastructures, buildings and providing basic services such as food, shelter, clothing and health care on the basis that the government has enough funds to complement with the needs of the constituent of the country. In having this kind of output, then consumerism among citizens is a good parameter that indeed, they would provide a potential to earn and further open opportunities to the country and the people. In this case, these elements could be regarded as factors which, if practiced could contribute to the betterment of the country as a whole. Though these two are separate entities, if act as one would provide favorable outcome in terms of its contribution to a certain country's economy. Reference: 1) thefreedictionary.com 2003. Consumerism. May 10, 2007 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/consumerism 2) wikipedia.com 2007 Citizenship. May 10, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship 3) ue-varna.bg 2007 Consumer Citizenship Education. May 10, 2007 http://www.ue-varna.bg/bg/index.phppage=4021 Read More