Sunday 8 December 2013

The problem of consumerism

I have long maintained that there is a major flaw with the modern business model. Nearly all of today's thinking in the workplace revolves around the customer being happy / getting what they want / never feeling even slightly inconvenienced / ect. And in our modern, Western society we have bought into it. Heck, I'm not innocent. I get irritated when I wait longer than I consider acceptable in a queue at KFC or a supermarket. Delays on products shipped from online retailers - I hit the roof. YOU said it would be here by such and such date. WHY is it not here?

This mentality is drilled into us, both as consumers and as a workforce. We believe we must bend over backwards for the client, and the client is starting to believe they must be bent over for (that could be read as very dodgy, haha). All sorts of new business models, like the relatively young beat-the-clock model, the increasing work hours for nearly every sector...it all points to us. The consumer. And our insatiable desire for 'needs' to be met immediately.

The problem with this is it causes the entire system to start crumbling. The more consumers get everything they want, they more they want everything when they want it. Faster deadlines. Shorter load times. Quicker service. More results. And eventually every business will hit that point where it can no longer keep up with unrealistic consumer expectations.

But don't dare question that, because as we have all been taught, the customer is king.

It seems to me this mentality starts to permeate everything. When I was in primary school, my parents NEVER even considered contacting any of my teachers directly. These days, many parents are given cellphone numbers for their childrens' class teachers and contact them whenever they want to discuss their child - even 10 at night. And the teacher is expected to obey because 'I paid school fees so I get to do what I want and you must fall in line'. So Little Johnny isn't getting the marks Mommy wants so Mommy calls the teacher because how dare the teacher let that happen. It's ridiculous. But it happens so much now. Parents expect to 'buy' their kids' education like they're buying a car service or a can of coffee. It doesn't work that way. Only your kid can earn that education. Teachers cannot force it.

And the ironic thing is we only make ourselves worse off. We increase our own workloads through our consumer demands for more and more. Because the more we expect from businesses, the more they have to do. Which means people have to work longer.

Those people are us.

A few months ago Capitec Bank ran an ad campaign on the radio where they 'interviewed' some random person and asked: 'one bank stays open Sundays, the other doesn't. Who would you bank with?' The brainless sheep on the other side of the mic says 'the one that's open on Sundays of course. I shop on Sundays. Why can't I bank on Sundays too?'

Because, dumbass, somebody needs to work on Sunday to make that happen. And you can be sure they aren't employing new staff for one extra day. Reverse the roles. Ask the bank worker the same question. He would hate it because he is forced to work extra. And this scenerio will become more and more prevalent in society, if we continue the way we continue (in my opinion). This sense of entitlement that rages inside so many people - it drives them to copy intellectual property like music and movies without paying (because why should I pay if the TV network paid right? as if that's the same thing), expect bottles of champagne and red carpets with slaves carrying fruit baskets every time they buy a new car, and demand banks stay open Sundays because a) they are too lazy to give up their lunch one day of the week or b) they are already in a work situation that prevents them from having time to do so. Circle.

It's no secret I play plenty of video games. I love them. But I wouldn't call myself a hardcore gamer. Hardcore gamers take it very seriously. Bad scores are met with rage and flying controllers (generalisation) and hours and invested into practice. I admire that.

I also like to watch the gaming community, because they are a very passionate people. Offend them, mislead them, or don't give them what they expect, and you will unleash a storm of hate and malice not seen since the Dark Ages.

So about a month ago a little game called Battlefield 4 was released. Massively anticipated, huge hype, great trailer footage. Only, it wasn't ready. There were still enormous glitches in the game system, like the save function not working AT ALL. But you know what? They shipped it anyway. Broken and all. Because they said November 1st and don't you dare not deliver on the date. The customer is king. (Some people will argue they shipped it to get the Christmas sales. Rubbish. That game would sell no matter when it was released. They shipped it because if they delayed it they would have been massacred by the community.)

And what do you think happened? You think all those gamers focused on the good and said: "Oh well, it might not save but 80% of the game is amazing and very well thought out'? HELL NO. They let loose. In a big way. Because they paid and ect ect ect ect...

I worry about where this will take us. Western society is fed by the idea that we can have whatever we want, whenever we want it. And the truth is it cannot last. Eventually we will topple our own system by asking too much of it. And then what?

Rant over.