Capitalism's Fuel is Consumerism: Use this Power Democratically to Keep Corporations in Check

I like to simplify things. Many folks, including myself, complain non-stop about “those big deep-pocket corporations out to get every penny we have”. Well, the other day I had a simple idea. I don’t know whether it is original (only to the extent that I haven’t heard about it from anyone else), but here it is anyway.

Why not all consumers of a particular corporation give a memorandum that if some demand (e.g. better consumer service, lower prices etc. ) are not met , they will cancel their subscriptions (loyalties, accounts, memberships, etc.) on a chosen day, all at the same time. This will work like a magic if most of the consumers participate (even 25% will be a huge dent in their revenue). And the internet will make it organized and transparent to all. It will be something like an online democratic process; only instead of money/power hungry politicians deciding our fate, people will be in charge directly. It will be a beautiful consolidation of both Capitalism and Democracy. People will list their demands, choose the final demands according to a majority vote, and put the memorandum and the deadline on a website. And then wait for the corporations to scramble to meet the demands.

Initially it may not work; especially if the corporation thinks this is just another online fad, but if the consumers do responsibly cancel their memberships on the chosen day and not re-subscribe until the demands are met, well…