Today, democracy is equated with the free market, in the sense that so-called democratic societies are those which allow their citizens to partake in as many goods and services as possible. In this excerpt from The Soul of Politics (New York: The New Press, 1995), Jim Wallis challenges this notion by describing how the breakdown of public dialogue and civic action can be partially attributed to increasing consumption:

"Citizenship itself has been replaced by consumption. Shopping has become our great collective activity, and consumerism has invaded and usurped our civic life. People feel they no longer have the power to change their communities or their nation, only to make choices among products. Political participation has waned dramatically, just as the rituals of consumption have come to dominate more and more of our social life...

We don’t participate in the debate over ideas, the formulation of the public policy, and the construction of the social order. Instead we shop. Our consumer voting is merely among the endless goods and gadgets offered to us, and democracy has been reduced to the freedom to decide among forty brands of toothpaste.

News has more and more become entertainment, fed, of course, by advertising… And even our political voting feels more like shopping for candidates, who have been packaged and sold by the same methods and people who bring us everything else."

While Wallis is speaking in the context of the United States, his critique is strikingly applicable to India and its nearly one billion consumer base. For example, in the recent national elections, the caricaturized personalities of Atalji and Soniaji and personal scandals of certain politicians captured far more attention than substantive issues. On one hand, we saw people swearing their loyalty to parties like brand-name products; on the other hand, the media portrayed a public, so disinterested and disillusioned with politics that they did not want to vote. Today, most people would rather shop (or ‘talk shop’ about the new products they fantasize about) than engage in civic activities or constructive politics.

Adults, Teachers, students, parents, and other members of a learning community can consider the following questions and action-research project to explore how consumerism is rapidly taking the place of active citizenship:

·         How do people understand/apply the spirit of citizenship in your community?

·         How has consumerism increased (or the spirit of citizenship decreased) in your community? What are the visible signs and effects of this change?

• What opportunities exist for us to reclaim and regenerate our sense of civic engagement?