A consumer debtor under UCC § 9-102 is a public entity and debt-transmitting utility vehicle, not a sovereign individual. As an ens legis, the consumer functions as a debtor in a system where all transactions are based on debt, per public law and policy. Since the removal of gold-backed currency (HJR-192, 1933), consumers operate within a commercial framework where assets are collateralized, not owned outright. This distinction separates the legal fiction (U.S. citizen) from the living man or woman, reinforcing the commercial nature of all consumer transactions.