Guiding, or manipulating, national consumerism is a tricky public policy issue. After 9/11, when Bush made a speech telling Americans to combat terrorism by shopping, he came under much national criticism. Some angry citizens, led by A Dr. Philips from Sonoma State University, even formed a group called “We're Not Buyin’ It”. The group organized a week long shopping boycott to convey their disagreement with Bush’s call for patriotic consumerism. The issue of patriotic consumerism was brought to the fore of the political agenda again this week.
Ireland was subject to national public sector strike this week (Tuesday, 24 Nov., 2009). Over a quarter of a million public servants protest Government plans to reduce their net income in the upcoming budget. Their dissatisfaction with what they see as the governments targeting of their sector, over the private sector, led to the strike. As the public sector have already been subject to a pension levy earlier this year, they argue that, in the interest of fairness, and as a patriotic gesture, the private sector should be subject to similar cuts and taxes as the private sector has had to swallow.
This is a rational and forceful argument; however, the strike on Tuesday was bloodied with a distasteful stain of hypocrisy as the striking public sector workers crossed the border into (cheaper) Northern Ireland to shop for the day. Reuters reported that traffic jams on the roads leading into N. Ireland brought traffic to a standstill, on what would usually be a regular Tuesday afternoon. Traders in the North confirmed that the day was a bonanza, with sales similar to pre-Christmas peaks.
Shoppers crossing from the Republic to the North to do their shopping have been an increasing trend over the last eighteen months due to the weak nature of Sterling. The fact that the public sector used their day of strike action to shop across the border, and effectually take much needed tax revenues out of the government coffers, (of a state that is haemorrhaging millions of euro weekly), reeked of hierocracy. Not only do these shoppers have a hugely negative impact on the national and local economies, but doing so on a day of strike was particularly distasteful as the tax revenues pay these peoples’ own salaries. Callers to Irish radio stations called these actions insulting, hypocritical, vulgar. As and Irish Times commentator surmises, its “not just an economic issue - it is also fast becoming an emotional one.”
The government want the people to be patriotic and to shop in the Republic, giving them tax revenue. However, the handling of the financial crisis has eroded confidence in the government and asking the people to make sacrifices, while those seen as government cronies (the banking and construction sector) are seen to get handouts, has generated a very bitter sentiment among the Irish population.
In free democratic societies, it seems that there is evidence that people resent being told how to spend their money. However, for this observer, when actions such as these are selfish and self-interested, and are likely to be long term detrimental to the prosperity of society, their actions cannot be comfortably justified. The unpatriotic consumers seem to feel that they are hitting back at a government they feel has failed them, but what are they really achieving? It would seem to be further unemployment, cutbacks, and national debt. Perhaps the question that should be asked is how governments can effectively convince their populations that what they are asking of them is in their own best interest. Trust must be established before a state can dictate to “Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country”.
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