One pernicious impact likely to result from government treating citizens as customers is the erosion of understanding of what taxes do, and consequently the willingness of citizens to support, through taxation, the work that government does to benefit the public. 1/ https://twitter.com/ehballah/status/1358093883763261448

One thing that happens when you take the role of a customer is you expect something in return for your money, a good or service. There's a causal linkage between payment and return. With public goods, however, this return is often diffuse and the linkage less apparent. 2/

Some examples of public goods include infrastructure, such as wastewater and roads, clean air and water and protected wildlife habitat that results from regulation and its enforcement, healthcare, etc. 3/

The very nature of a public good means that it's available to all. The causal linkage of the transaction, between the individual and the return on their investment, is less clear. We don't personally realize the return of paying for public healthcare until we need it. 4/

This is a dynamic that we often see in environmental advocacy. Ppl are often only moved to take action when an issue directly affects them. 5/

Indeed, this has long been one of the more intractable problems in getting effective action on climate change as it's long been perceived to be something that isn't impacting people in an immediate sense. 6/

This isn't a matter of human nature, though, rather it's the stories we tell ourselves of how we fit within the natural world. We've become used to thinking of ourselves as separate from Nature, and of treating Nature as if its parts are interchangeable pieces of machinery. 7/

But I digress. The point is that words matter. They help give meaning and a sense of identity. When government treats citizens as customers they are undercutting the ability for people to make sense of their investment in the public domain. 7/

Investment in the public domain is crucial if we're to meet the challenges of the #ClimateCrisis and #COVID19, and government has to play a central role in making the case for a sense of shared responsibility if we're going to be successful.