I understand the instinct to find a middle ground here (I did as well, that’s why one of my pieces of advice is to fine the Mavericks I.e. making the exact point that there are some more meaningful types of consumption). But hanging on to “conscious consumerism” alienates a huge group of people who can’t afford to participate while lining the pockets of companies with money spent to feel “woke.” The point is that we can’t buy our way to justice. Period. The very idea addresses the problem counterproductively, through the consumptive lens that got us here in the first place, and the whole point of this article was to change the perspective. To cling to it is to cling to the marketing and the good feelings it gives us when we buy “ethical” food, and prioritizing that over actually doing good, with our money, time, or talent. That’s the problem; we are willing to pay to feel good or seem good, at the expense of doing good.

Conscious consumerism is currently about status and elitism. Maybe one day it’ll be different.