Plato, Hitler and brand corporatism

So... I'm thinking aloud here. Most people think Hitler was a bad person... ditto Mosley and Mussolini. Democracy is the bedrock of liberal western society and anything that threatens it - such as Nazism or Fascism - is bad. Agreed?

But there is are alternatives to democracy that aren't as totalitarian Nazism or fascism. Plato for instance advocated a state governed by benevolent dictators. leaders trained to rule effectively and efficiently for the good of the people.

But then there's the argument that while this is good in theory, it overlooks government by the people - ie. it bypasses the people who live within and form part of the system.

So Jonathan Wolff argues that

"In a democracy people show their interests ... by voting: they vote for what they want. Hence voting is more than a decision-making procedure. It is a way of revealing or expressing the very information that decision needs to take to take into account: what the people want"

So imagine you're a big ol' corporate brand. It's not for nothing that both Mussolini and Mosley saw their view of Fascism as the 'corporate state'.

Drawing that analogy how many corporate brands allow their users to vote - and i don't mean shareholders - how many allow their citizen consumers to have a say in what happens to the brand?

I'd argue not many because the company will probably see this as the consumer making decisions in which they have no part to play. Or alternatively see consumers voting through sales.

But I think it's more than that - we can call it crowdsourcing, wisdom of the crowd etc - but i think the above examples show us that the ability to exercise our personal preference is not just about a shallow indication of whether we agree or disagree with a change in colour or style. It gives a more complex look into the reasons why people want to be enfranchised in the world around them.

Maybe it's glib to link political democratic rights with those of citizen consumers.... but then again, maybe it's not?

Technorati Tags: Fascism, politics, corporations, brands, thinking aloud

Comments

[Ian Green]

I'm fine with the theory but what are the brands today for Hitler, Mussolini and Mosley? And would you buy it?