Too often, the caricature of a customer is negative but, in reality, the customer is our benefactor and, ultimately, the boss. Why are customers benefactors? In one real sense, customers shape and mold the development of the economy and fuel jobs. Do people hold jobs to buy only the necessary things? We have a price system that does that for us, so why are the customer-surrogates swarming in to take down the customer when the market signals to customers what’s in their best interest? As Thomas Sowell said in the book Basic Economics:
The self-rationing created by prices not only tends to mean less social and political friction but also more economic efficiency, since each individual knows his or her own preferences better than any third party can.
Therefore, prices signal people what not to buy better than a surrogate decision-maker.
As a customer, when I make a voluntary purchase and pay the cooperative seller, I am not just buying goods. I am making a claim on those goods—a legal claim that I did something for someone else and they paid me for the work they performed at some past date. This act of purchasing and consumption, using money to exchange, entitles me to a legal claim on economic goods of my choice through exchange. However, more importantly, my consumption, and yours, signals the producer to produce more of those goods the consumers have demanded. So, when we consider the economic roles of customers—not what third party surrogates say—we realize the importance of being a customer. The customers or consumers are economic influencers with legal claims on private property by homesteading, exchange, or gift. So, then, we must ask, who truly holds the power in the marketplace?
Some assume that the customer should be subordinate to third-party surrogates or that the customer is somehow a negative actor. This is demonstrated in the national customer service ratings, according to The Wall Street Journal. This report shows that, even in service-dominated industries, the businesses are treating the customer badly—even with contempt—and this is becoming a trend to subordinate the customer. The customer is steadily being dethroned and—in the future—may no longer be “king” of the marketplace. The enemies of the customer do not care about your legal claim on exchanges and how legal claims represent the harmonious acquisition and the exchange of private property. The enemy’s disdain for private property, self-reliance, and individual restraint should not be a surprise. Enemies of the customer genuinely believe that, somehow, economic life can exist without the customers making purchases and consuming.
Customers are kings! The customer is the commander of the capitalist. If the customers didn’t like Musk’s Tesla cars, he would not be in the commanding position he is in with his wealth. He did it by satisfying the customers’ desires and needs. Without the customer there is no business and no economy and no way for the state to know what to do with force.
I think this is why @DarthCoin makes such good points with his “Make them pay!” Memes. He is saying, “Make them become customers and pay for value!” That way the content creators know which content to creat and how much of it to create. The sats speak for themselves to the producers. Thanks for the reminder @DarthCoin.
