If I had my way, I would ban consumers. Not the people. The word.

Calling people consumers says a lot about how you regard them: as people who consume, as people to consume your products, as people to sell to. And not much more. That is not much regard for people, I don't think. It is reductive and dismissive, and callous and unsympathetic.

I would feel even more strongly about banning the consumer. Again, not the person. The expression. Referring to people as the consumer shows even less regard for them. "The consumer" reduces everyone to one thing. The same thing. As people there to consume. As people who only consume.

It conjures images of people mindlessly putting their hands in their pockets, thoughtlessly and robotically handing over their credit cards, stuffing their faces in a hypnotic trance. It's a little gross, and kind of inhumane.

Words are easy to use. Words we hear other people using every day are easier to use. But words have meaning and implications. They tell us things. Especially about the people using them.

Calling people clients or customers is okay. That shows some intrinsic respect. You have to do some work for someone to become a client or customer. You have to at least treat them with some dignity. You have to see them as people.

But if you call someone a consumer or, worse, the consumer, that says you see them as little or nothing more than someone who is there to do little or nothing more than consume, preferably whatever it is you're trying to sell. Nobody is that, and nobody should be seen that way.