Sociologist Zygmunt Bauman characterizes this era as a time of "liquid modernity." Rather than settled meanings, categories, and frames of reference, Bauman contends that meaning is always in flux, open-ended rather than closed. This flux is in large part driven and exacerbated by a culture of consumerism. This phenomenology of the consumer is particularly troubling given the reputed aims of education. Whatever education is or ought to be (especially in a democracy), it should counter a culture that seeks to make us "impatient, impetuous, and restive." The battle against consumerism, or reining it in, the author takes as part of the normative charge as educators. Liberal education aims to be a positive force against excessive consumption, seeking to fashion autonomous selves who are able to resist the pressures of popular culture. In this address, the author explores how liberal education (the ways of thinking and the practices that it aims to instantiate) cultivates and buttresses an autonomous self who can withstand the distorting forces of unsustainable consumption. The author begins with an overview of liberal education, noting two dominant understandings or traditions that comprise it. The first tradition emphasizes critical thinking skills as the basis for securing autonomy. The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AACU) is a strong proponent of this approach. The second tradition underscores the importance of cognitive or quasi-spiritual exercises as essential for battling the passions that can undermine autonomy. With this schematic overview in hand, the author then turns to David Foster Wallace's essay "This is Water." Wallace, a fiction author first and foremost, paints a compelling picture of how each approach plays out in the trenches of ordinary life. What emerges is the importance of both traditions for ensuring the telos of liberal education: the autonomous self. The author argues that his approach to liberal education is the best alternative for addressing consumerism. It incorporates not just the critical thinking and struggle with the passions, but also encompasses the habituation, practices, and community necessary for sustaining human freedom. This more robust version of liberal education is particularly necessary in light of the social media blitz that holds us, but especially students (I-generation), in its thrall. Human freedom is arguably more beleaguered than ever by the addictiveness of virtual media, and the forces that shape us to be mindless consumers. [For "The Academic 'Pharmakon': In Defense of Liberal Education. Response to the Presidential Address," see EJ1200863.]