Rampant consumerism and tech saviourism are not solely the domain of “nerds”, nor are they true of all “nerds”. The group you are looking for is “people”.

Plenty of people you would never consider nerds will throw away their old phone just to get the newer model. They will assume they have no responsibilities to the world or to the community because government/science/jesus will sort the big problems out. They will live in their own tiny worlds never even considering the bigger problems at play.

Why do you think this is a problem that only affects nerds?