Entering college significantly increased my reliance on Amazon packages. In the chaos of transitioning to college and being without a car, I felt I had limited options. While this consumption seems innocuous — after all, nearly every modern citizen shops online — I couldn’t shake the guilt. The normalization of companies like Amazon, Temu or countless others with low prices and even lower ethical standards troubled me. This small habit indicated a much more sinister issue: the growing culture of hyperindividualism.
The American Dream of self-reliance
Since settlers declared the Americas a New World with a frontier waiting to be claimed, the United States has championed a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” mentality. While this self-reliance encourages diverse expression and independent thought, it has eroded a larger sense of community. This issue is not new, but with the increasing ease of buying, the environmental harm accompanying the rise of AI and increasingly pressing political concerns, the necessity for collective action has become ever more urgent.
According to sociologist Robin M. Williams Jr in “American Society,” the nation’s ideas of equality and individuality intersect so that Americans “owe no man anything and hardly expect anything from anybody.” But there’s no need to consult academia — look no further than the “for you” page of social media to see self-help creators echoing this same rhetoric. When taken to this extreme, hyperindividuality is no longer a recognition of a personal agency but a justification of withdrawing from collective responsibility, referring to the shared accountability compelling us to consider the wellbeing of our community. When this accountability is ignored, the balance between individual freedom and collective wellbeing capsizes.
The commodification of self-care, identity and everything in between
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare,” American writer and activist Audre Lorde wrote.
Although Lorde was writing about persisting with activism while battling cancer, the quote has been popularly misconstrued to support consumption-focused self-care. Whether it’s influencers with 15-step skin care routines or advertisements rebranding purchasing as self-love, genuine self-care has been diluted to justify corporate-driven indulgence. Under a capitalistic society, nearly everything has been commodified, meaning even our time and well-being has been twisted into something that can be profited off.
I have caught myself thinking, “if I only had that product, then everything would be better,” only to find that the thrill of unboxing rapidly dissipated, exposing the insignificance of the problem or how it extended beyond the bandaid of a quick purchase. When purchasing becomes fundamental to our identity and relationships, spending money becomes essential to our presentation of self and our measuring of love.
Artificial intelligence: the new frontier of consumption
Consuming doesn’t stop at physical accumulation. Just as we may be tempted to mindlessly consume goods, the rise of artificial intelligence has encouraged further consumption despite broad consequences. As of July 2024, 86% of higher education students used AI in their schoolwork and nearly a quarter of this percentage used it daily. Like many Vanderbilt students overwhelmed with copious reading, I know the temptation to run a lengthy article through ChatGPT all too well. Still, like fast fashion, AI is another shortcut to sidestep sustainability.
It’s true that AI is transforming industries and efficiency, with the potential to innovate administrative tasks and decision-making. For our work as students, AI can be a research aid, providing immediate feedback and offering alternative ways of thinking. Swearing off AI completely may be impractical and leave us unable to compete with our peers’ output. Nonetheless, we must be responsible with our usage.
Not every search inquiry must be put through ChatGPT — not only because it may generate inaccuracies but also because doing our own research exposes us to diverse viewpoints and connects us to a community of people passionate in the same subjects. I often disagree with feedback from ChatGPT because many suggestions detract from the main point or rely on generic ways of thinking. I have found this process to be a fruitful moment to truly understand my authorial voice, but it has also shown me that being unable to critically think for ourselves will at length make us more vulnerable to believing and disseminating misinformation.
The consequences of overconsumption
As AI becomes built into our digital lives, recognizing its environmental impact is crucial. The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that a single ChatGPT response consumes 10 times the electricity of a Google search. Additionally, AI microchips require environmentally destructive methods of mining, and AI data centres produce hazardous electronic waste and deplete vast water quantities.
Beyond damaging our self-identity, overconsumption is antithetical to collective responsibility. Commercial-scale production almost always involves exploitative working conditions and environmental degradation. Perhaps most famously are the human rights violations of and waste generated by the garment industry, yet there is still a discrepancy between the rising public concern of sustainable values and shopping habits. For college students without a steady income, the premium price of sustainable fashion is often a turn-off, making it difficult to stop relying on cheap goods.
This concept encompasses any type of cheap, low-quality products designed to be quickly used up and discarded. Thus, when we frequently make impulse purchases or wasteful AI generations, we ignore these environmental and worker abuses for the sake of our momentary happiness.
The necessity of collective action
Emphasizing the importance of collective action is not to say that these environmental and political concerns are not results of much broader, systemic issues. I do not intend to detract from the culpability of large corporations and governmental institutions nor to propose that the largest burden of solving these issues lies on the shoulders of consumers. Indeed, the increase of hyperindividualism and overconsumption, in part, results from these very systemic issues that glorify material success and hustle culture, enabling larger corporations to ultimately profit from our labor. It’s easy to feel like our actions are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Yet, these large entities will not change unless there is pressure applied to them — and this pressure won’t be applied unless we are the ones to do it.
Collective action is especially crucial now with social, environmental and political issues becoming increasingly disastrous. With heightened scrutiny around the ethical practices of big name brands and the widespread removal of DEI policies, where we choose to spend our money is indispensable. While completely clean consumption and boycotting may be unrealistic for some, particularly those already facing financial struggles, being aware of our consumption levels is part of our shared responsibility.
Many Vanderbilt students come into college intending to improve themselves and their community. Both goals are important; I urge us not to forget one in pursuit of the other. I am still struggling to find the balance between my busy personal life and my community to ensure my desire for convenience does not trump my care for the world around me. Everyone’s journey looks different, whether it’s getting more involved in local politics, voting, volunteering, minimizing consumption, demonstrating or having these important conversations. Whatever it is, I implore each of us to do something to step outside our individual bubbles and remind ourselves that we will always need each other.
