The Right to Know Your Consumption

Sor Juana asserted that access to knowledge was a human right, not a privilege reserved for elites. She challenged systems designed to keep people ignorant. This concept extends that principle to consumption: you have a right to know what enters your home, who made it, under what conditions, and what environmental debt it carries. This right counters deliberate obscurity in supply chains and marketing deception. Ethical consumption begins when you refuse to accept incomplete information. Demand ingredient lists, manufacturing locations, certification standards, and labor conditions. This mirrors Sor Juana's insistence on intellectual autonomy—you cannot make ethical choices without knowing the full truth. The right to know is both an epistemological and ethical principle: ignorance may be convenient for corporations, but it is incompatible with genuine freedom or justice in your consumption patterns.