Customer vs. taxpayer: Service industry rhetoric degrades democracy

[marmar]

from NOW Toronto:



Customer vs. taxpayer
Service industry rhetoric degrades democracy

By Josh Hume


Apparently we’re a city of customers now. We’re not citizens, residents or even taxpayers. The vocabulary has shifted so dramatically in this election that it seems the very notion of civil society is under linguistic attack.

Customers get exactly what they want when they want it. Taxpayers, on the other hand, get duped into paying for things they have no direct use for.

While Rob Ford calls for “a customer-service approach to city services,” George Smitherman declares, “a City Hall under my leadership will put the customer first.” To this end, he’s proposed “citizen feedback portals” where “citizens and visitors can instantly grade the quality of service received.”

Indeed, the notion that we are customers entitled to a dollar-for-dollar return on our tax investment has become epidemic in this election. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.nowtoronto.com/news/story.cfm?content=177005