Saturday, March 10, 2012

An Open Letter to Richard Cordray




Mr. Richard Cordray, Director
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
1500 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
(Attn: 1801 L St.)
Washington DC 20220
info@consumerfinance.gov

Dear Mr. Cordray:

Congratulations on your recent appointment to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. I'm confident I speak for millions of people when I say it's about time for this kind of effort on behalf of American citizens.

I have one simple suggestion that won't cost much, but it could have a lasting positive effect on our democracy. Please rename your agency. Stop calling us consumers. We are Citizens with a capital C. In addition, please lead an effort to ask all kinds of media to follow suit.

Nothing captures the contemporary dilemma of political disengagement more than the commercial reality of consumer versus citizen. So many people view the government not as us but as them. “We the people” means that we are the government, because we are citizens, not because we are consumers. Citizens are responsible; consumers just devour.

Citizen versus consumer is an issue that transcends political affiliation. Arguments about inequality aside, I don’t think it’s that hard to convince the political left, right, or center, that a return to the ubiquitous use of the word citizen, while scrapping the word consumer, would have a positive effect for democracy. It seems like such a small thing, and some will no doubt think it silly, but it would likely result in a paradigm shift in democratic expectations.

Sincerely,

Charles D. Hayes
          Wasilla, Alaska
          autodidactic.com
          septemberuniversity.org

KINDLE Books and EBooks on Amazon:

September University: Summoning Passion for an Unfinished Life
Existential Aspirations: Reflections of a Self-Taught Philosopher
The Rapture of Maturity: A Legacy of Lifelong Learning
Beyond the American Dream: Lifelong Learning and the Search for Meaning in
Proving You're Qualified: Strategies for Competent People Without College Degrees
Training Yourself: The 21st Century Credential
Self-University: The Price of Tuition is the Desire to Learn. Your Degree is a Better Life
Portals in a Northern Sky: A Novel
Alaska Short Fiction Series for Kindle
Moose Hunter Homicide
KINDLE Essays on Amazon:
Aging Existentially: Getting the Most Out of the Fall and Winter of Life
America’s Greatest Enemy: Ignorance
Atlas Begs To Differ: Why It’s a Mistake to Believe in Ayn Rand
Class Warfare: Is It Real? Is It Over? Or Has It Just Begun?
Heroism, Cowardice, and the National Tragedy of Hidden Guilt
Learning A Living: Career Success Without Formal Credentials
Nostalgia: Why the Past Matters
Pursuing Justice: Foxes, Hedgehogs, and the Baby-Boom Legacy
Why Political Dialog Is Disingenuous
NOOK Books and Essays on Barnes & Noble
Portals in a Northern Sky: A Novel
Aging Existentially: Getting the Most Out of the Fall and Winter of Life
America’s Greatest Enemy: Ignorance
Atlas Begs To Differ: Why It’s a Mistake to Believe in Ayn Rand
Class Warfare: Is It Real? Is It Over? Or Has It Just Begun?
Heroism, Cowardice, and the National Tragedy of Hidden Guilt
Learning A Living: Career Success Without Formal Credentials
Nostalgia: Why the Past Matters
Pursuing Justice: Foxes, Hedgehogs, and the Baby-Boom Legacy
Why Political Dialog Is Disingenuous
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