Intellectual Complicity and Consumer Choice

Sor Juana rejected false piety and intellectual shortcuts—she demanded rigorous honesty in thought and action. Applied to consumption, this means acknowledging that every purchase is a vote, a statement of values. We cannot claim innocence while knowingly supporting exploitation. This is intellectual complicity: using convenience or cost savings as an excuse to ignore what we suspect is unjust. Sor Juana would recognize this as the same rationalization used by those who defended ignorance as virtue. Ethical consumption in her tradition means confronting uncomfortable truths about supply chains, labor abuse, and environmental destruction. It requires us to admit when we choose profit over people, comfort over conscience. This discomfort is not a bug—it's the beginning of genuine ethical awareness and the foundation for real change.