Remember the movie What Women Want? Mel Gibson played an advertising executive who was struck by lightning, which blessed him with a strange ability to hear what women were thinking. Some of it he wanted to hear. Some of it he did not.

This year, the Journal is featuring a column on consumer-driven healthcare, and as the columnist I consider it my job to help you figure out what consumers want. You play the part of Mel Gibson--that is, some of it you will want to hear, some of it you will not.

First, let's step back for a brief history of consumerism to understand where we are in the evolution of this topic. Consumerism is closely entwined with politics and policy. ...