Reflection on Week 6: UNDERSTANDING THE TANGIBLE GOODS SECTOR

In general there are three things that are covered in this chapter which are social logic of consumption, tangible goods sector, and advocacy framework for consumer awareness. According to the adherents of egalitarian welfare, consumption is done so that a person can get a level of happiness in himself and according to them everyone is required to have an equal standard of welfare, where no one is richer and no one is poorer. However, in reality, at this time when capitalism runs the world's economy, this is not easy because of the hierarchical industrial system where some are more powerful than others, so the sacred dream of the adherents of egalitarian welfare is not realized and in the end creates social inequality between the rich and the poor.

Due to the social inequality that has emerged, the next discussion is about a person's standards in determining their consumption or what we can call the logic of consumption. Some examples of logic of consumption are sustainability, efficiency, and health. Sustainability is a consumption concept where what is consumed must have a good impact not only for the present but also in the future, an example of consumption that has a good impact in the future is the use of electric-fueled cars instead of fossil fuels. As we know that the use of fossil fuels has increased the rate of global warming and the depletion of the ozone layer, it is hoped that by using electric fuels, it is hoped that the global warming rate can be reduced. Next is efficiency, anyone who understands how to manage finances will certainly buy things that are only a necessity, not a desire, with limited money someone will definitely use a logical of efficiency to make himself have a frugal expenditure. Lastly is health, everyone wants to be healthy, and by sorting out whichever consumption is deemed healthy, one will definitely buy things that nourish his body and not things that damage his body.

Tangible goods sector is anything that we can feel through our five senses, we can touch, see, hear, smell, and taste. These goods are divided into two, namely consumer goods and capital goods. Consumer goods are all goods that are indeed sold for personal use, such as the food we eat every day, the clothes we use to go to college, the nice shoes we use to attend family weddings, and so on. While capital goods are goods that we buy to produce other goods such as raw wood that we buy from wood farmers and as wood craftsmen we make the raw wood into chairs or tables which will later become consumer goods because the chairs and tables will sold to the market.

Talking about tangible goods that can be consumed, Allah commands us to eat good food as he said in Surah Al-Mu'minun "O apostles, eat from good food and do good deeds." (Al-Mu'minun; 51).

Next is the advocacy strategy framework. Broadly speaking, there are two major factors that are part of the advocacy for consumer awareness, which are audiences and outcomes. Within the audience are the public, influencers, and decision makers. While in the outcomes there are awareness, will, and action. Some examples that can be taken from the advocacy strategy framework are public education, where the public as the audience and awareness as the outcome, provide education to the public about how a consumer should behave. Next is media advocacy, where influencers are the audience and will is the outcome, the purpose of this media advocacy is so that influencers who can use their names can move the media to be able to advocate for things related to consumerism and these things have often been done by influencers through their social media. The last is litigation, where a decision maker as the audience and action as the outcome, conducts the process of discussing the law in court so that later it can be made into state laws and regulations and must be obeyed by the entire community.