Consumer Watchdogs

The consumer watchdogs are sluggish, disinterested and toothless and in this country and riddled through with bureaucracy. We put up with too much, although we probably get there eventually. A good example would be the pirated music. The record companies kept the price of CD’S artificially high for years in this country and then complain when people look at cheaper options. Most people would rather have the CD with its proper cover with a write up, maybe a couple of extra tracks and maybe a video version, but are put off by the price so they look to pirates.
When we kick ass, like the fuel protests, it works. The government took notice and it stopped the hikes in fuel tax. The fuel companies took notice too although memories are short and sometimes it’s difficult to know whether the prices are justified or not. Consumer power works. Consumer protest works. But how often does it happen? Why don’t we ever protest? The corporations and multinationals are herding us around like sheep and riding roughshod over our best interests and rights. Consumer power can change the profile of shopping. What I would like is to see a consumer oriented organisation that has the consumer’s interests at heart but doesn’t fuck around. It needs to be consumer driven.