Collective Responsibility for Systems of Consumption

Sor Juana's writings addressed injustice at systemic levels, not merely individual morality. Similarly, ethical consumption must move beyond individual consumer choices to systemic transformation. While personal purchasing matters, it is insufficient alone: one ethical consumer cannot compete with the structural power of exploitative corporations. Collective responsibility means organizing with others—supporting labor movements, demanding policy changes, building alternative economic structures, and holding corporations accountable through boycotts and advocacy. Sor Juana understood that intellectual work and justice require solidarity. Ethical consumption similarly demands community: discussing values with friends, supporting workers' organizations, advocating for living wage policies, and imagining economic systems organized for justice rather than extraction. Individual choices are expressions of collective commitment.