Chapter Two
The Excluded Consumer
An unobserved inequity can go on for generations. Once it is observed, however, its days are numbered.
So if money makes the world go around, who makes the money go around? We do. The Consumers. We create the demand. We buy the stuff. And we foot the bill. When you walk into a grocery store, a drug store, a discount store—who do you think is paying for that light bill? Who’s paying those employees? Who’s paying all that overhead and that insurance? We are! When you think about it, consumers drive the whole economy. Without us, profit wouldn’t exist. There might be manufacturers, middle men, wholesalers and retailers— but without us consumers paying for their salaries and putting profits in the
stockholders’ pockets, they wouldn’t be around too long. So we’re the big cheese, huh? We’re the reason it’s all happening. But let me ask you this. Of all the people in the profit chain, who’s the only one that gets excluded? Manufacturers? Nope, they get their share of the pie. How about the middle men? Are you kidding? They make billions every year. What about the wholesalers and the retailers? They all get their piece of the action. So what about you? “Who me?” Yes you. “I’m just the consumer. I’m the one who buys the stuff and takes it home.” And how much profit do you get? “Profit? I don’t get profit.” Not any? “No.” Why not? “Why should I?” Because you drive the market. Because without you there isn’t any market. Because you foot the bill for the whole thing! “I guess I never thought of that.” Exactly. And that’s why you’re excluded.
It’s the oldest story in the human family. If no one notices an inequity, it doesn’t change. Well, somebody finally noticed. It wasn’t me. Like everybody else, I was totally conditioned. In my world, consumers were the ones who bought things—and everyone got profit from their money except them. That’s just how it was. I never questioned it. I remember when my Great Grandma had her plumbing out behind the house. She never questioned it. She was conditioned. And when one day she visited my Grandma and saw that she had put the plumbing in the house, she wrinkled up her forehead and squinted her blue eyes and shook her head. “I guess you young folks are going to go ahead and do that,” she told us. “But it’s not for me. I don’t think it’s natural.” That was the first time I woke up to the power of conditioning. When I saw the business model for the first time, I felt a lot like my great grandma. I couldn’t quite digest that this was happening. I’d never been invited to participate in the profit of any of the products I’d ever bought in my entire life. And over the years—if
I added it up—that represented lots of money—everything, in fact, that I had ever made. And suddenly I was viewing a business model that would permanently change that. All I had to lose was my conditioning. At least I was one up on my great grandma. I was excited. I knew this was progress. And I wanted it to happen. Even if I thought it was too good to actually be true, and I still did—I hoped it was. Today, quite happily, I’m reconditioned. Now when I remember telling Dr. Hullender it was too good to be true, I smile. Actually, what I had been conditioned to accept was too bad to be true—but since nobody knew it back then, I didn’t either. One day everyone will know it—just like we all know that putting the plumbing out behind the house is not a good idea. It never was. But we didn’t know that till there was a better way. Including consumers in the profit loop will one day be a standard in the market place. The billions of dollars spent on advertising (much of which is highly suspect anyway) will be gratefully rerouted to consumers who loyally use and promote the products they enjoy. No billboard or TV commercial will ever wield the credibility of a single candid comment from a friend. Word of mouth will always be the best advertising that’s available, as well as the most honest. And the only ones who wield that verbal power—are consumers. So, should we be included in the profit? What do you think?
​
​
​
​
​
​