-
If I were to define what "Affluenza" would be it would be to say it is children (under 40) who have been so shielded from the real world. It is sort of like they live in a video Game (almost literally) where the real consequences of life are not obvious to them because there have been no real consequences to anything they have ever done good or bad. You might say to me that people like this don't exist. However, I have met them and seen them and even counseled them in the 1990s and into the early 2000s. They exist and hopefully they learn consequences before they kill someone accidentally thinking they are in a video game.“Affluenza”—A Modern Epidemic The Real Truth
“Affluenza”—A Modern Epidemic
An insatiable appetite for material goods has led millions to become dissatisfied with life. What drives this worsening phenomenon?As fall turns to winter, the colder weather and time spent cooped up indoors can leave us susceptible to the influenza virus. Marked by a sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, headache, fever and sometimes digestive upset, this airborne bug spreads easily. It can take you out of work for a week or more and possibly send you to the hospital.Shopping rush: People fill Macy's department store during Black Friday sales in New York, New York (Nov. 23, 2012).
Source: Andrew Kelly/Getty Images
This change of seasons also fuels another, more insidious virus. It gains its strength the day after Thanksgiving—“Black Friday,” which kicks off the Christmas shopping season. The “affluenza” virus is marked by low self-esteem, depression, a loss of motivation, an inability to delay gratification, and a false sense of entitlement, according to the website The Affluenza Project. It can weigh you down with debt, cause you to default on your credit cards or mortgage, and lead you to file for bankruptcy.
The holiday shopping season also leaves us susceptible to affluenza—the name sociologists use to describe the West’s insatiable appetite for more and more material goods. In 2012, “…a record 247 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the four-day weekend starting on Thanksgiving, up 9.2 percent [from the year before], according to a survey of 4,000 shoppers that was conducted by research firm BIGinsight…” The Associated Press reported.
“Americans spent more too: The average holiday shopper spent $423 over the entire weekend, up from $398 [the previous year]. Total spending over the four-day weekend totaled $59.1 billion, up 12.8 percent from 2011.”
This social “virus,” first described in America, is spreading throughout the prosperous nations of the West and is mutating into a terminal illness. What stokes people’s desire to consume more, despite already having all they need?
Virus of Desire
The term affluenza is derived from two words: affluent and influenza. Just as a virus spreads until it consumes its host, the social virus of affluenza infects millions of people, consuming their lives with the shameless pursuit of material possessions.
One hundred years ago, affluenza was virtually unknown. During World War I and the Great Depression, most people had very little, yet learned to be content. Those of the “Greatest Generation” generally worked hard, saved money, and bought only what they could afford, usually with cash. Times were hard, so thrift and frugality were the order of the day. As the saying went, “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
After World War II, America entered an age of prosperity and companies began employing aggressive tactics to attract new customers. The concept of “targeted advertising” sprang to life, as companies bombarded clearly defined age demographic segments with carefully tailored advertisements, especially targeting teenagers and young adults. The emergence of television as the major media bolstered advertising effectiveness and allowed companies to reach multiple millions of people simultaneously with each commercial.
Meanwhile, the Greatest Generation gave birth to “Baby Boomers.” Parents who had suffered hardships during the Depression wanted easier lives for their children. In their desire to give their sons and daughters a better life, parents showered them with possessions. This unintentionally led to a culture of entitlement as well as an insatiable desire to attain more “stuff.”
As Baby Boomers matured, they too sought to give their children an easier life—and so the cycle continued throughout the decades, with each successive generation feeling entitled to the best things in life, regardless of whether they could afford it.
Added to these factors was the longest period of unparalleled prosperity in modern history. Successive generations born after World War II had never known hardship. They had never known anything other than good times and instant gratification. The standard of living in Western countries rose to heights never before experienced.
Relentless advertising, combined with prosperity and permissive parenting, gave rise to generations accustomed to getting whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted—a culture obsessed with what others had. It also produced a set of values that deemed material possessions and status as more important than character. Thriftiness, hard work, integrity, fiscal responsibility, and other similar values were abandoned. Spurred on by advertising, celebrities, game shows, music videos, reality television, and the media at large, many became infected with the desire to obtain.Expand ImageShopping frenzy: People walk past shops on Christmas Eve in London, England (Dec. 24, 2012).
Source: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Culture of Greed
By the 21st century, the affluenza virus spread even further. For example, in 2010, the total amount of consumer debt in the U.S. was nearly $2.4 trillion, or $7,800 per American, according to Economy Watch. The culture of “buy now and forget about tomorrow” was well entrenched.
Even the federal government has been infected. America’s national debt is nearly $17 trillion, equating to about $54,000 per citizen. The hope of ever repaying it is long gone, yet the government continues to overspend, leaving the burden to future generations.
The situation throughout other Western nations is similar: consumers, businesses and governments are loaded with compounding levels of debt.
The mood of excess is everywhere. In the book Stop Me Because I Can’t Stop Myself, a woman described how she shopped online six to eight hours a day and ended up $80,000 in debt. She eventually lost her job, got divorced and, finally in desperation, checked herself into a psychiatric institution after admitting, “Shopping ruined my family.”
This lady is not alone in her plight—the motto “shop till you drop” is a mantra for our time.
The extravagance even extends to basics such as food. For example, Americans buy much more food than they consume. Whatever is not used is simply thrown away, wasted. According to Reuters, each American throws away about 400 pounds of food per year. The United States Environmental Protection Agency reported that in 2010, 33 million tons of food waste ended up in landfills.Expand ImageWanting more: Shoppers reach out for discounted perfumes inside a department store at a post-Christmas Boxing Day sale in central London, England (Dec. 26, 2012).
Source: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
Affluenza permeates Western society. People fiercely compete with each other for who has the largest house, fanciest car, and most exotic vacation spot—even the cutest dog! They envy the notoriety, fame and fortune of public figures, especially celebrities.
This social disease particularly affects young adults. Research by American Demographics found that among 18- to 34-year-olds (children of Baby Boomers and Generation X), 23 percent of men and 26 percent of women confessed to “always or frequently” coveting their neighbors’ goods. Sixty percent of the same age group confirmed they were jealous of “celebrities or public figures,” whose lifestyles are glamorized by television shows. Not surprisingly, money is the item most coveted among this age group.
Truly, as the prophet Jeremiah prophesied about the modern English-speaking nations in our time, “From the least of them even unto the greatest of them everyone is given to covetousness…” (6:13).
Nothing New
Throughout history, affluenza has infected great empires to one degree or another. To find examples, you need look no further than the Bible.
Perhaps the greatest human example of affluenza was King Solomon, who enjoyed a life of excess and splendor unlike any other in history. He directed great public works projects, built palatial houses, planted lush vineyards and gardens, had large numbers of servants, and generated tremendous riches—so much that gold and silver were as abundant as stones in Jerusalem in his day. To top it off, he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Whatever he wanted, he got.
Yet Solomon, the wisest and one of the richest men who ever lived, wrote, “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun” (Ecc. 2:11).
Despite his great wealth and accomplishments, Solomon felt unsatisfied. As with so many, affluenza does not satisfy. The more one has, the more one wants.
How Much Longer?
In the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other prosperous Western nations where affluenza is most prevalent, citizens do not entertain the thought that the lifestyle to which they have grown accustomed could quickly and radically change.
Despite persistent unemployment, diminishing job prospects, and other gathering dark clouds, times are still good in the U.S. compared to the rest of the globe. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid funds have not run out, lights stay on, and roads are still drivable. Food stamps are still accepted, free government-subsidized cellphones still ring. Mortgage lending has tightened somewhat, but credit cards are still easy to obtain. Buy-one-get-one sales, rebates and no-interest store financing are taken for granted.
Even a casual student of history, however, knows that current conditions are unsustainable!
In light of this, questions arise: What happens when necessities become scarce? When grocery store shelves become bare, hospitals shut down, social services and safety nets fall apart, how will a shopper infected with the affluenza virus cope?
In a letter to American statesman Adlai Stevenson, author John Steinbeck wrote, “If I wanted to destroy a nation, I would give it too much and I would have it on its knees, miserable, greedy and sick” (“Travels with Charley: In Search of America”).
The Bible backs this up. The apostle Paul wrote in I Timothy: “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition” (6:9).
The United States has lived beyond its means for a long time. Measured against the yardstick of what we can actually afford, we have had too much! We increasingly cannot say “no” to ourselves—whether, “No, I don’t need a third helping of turkey,” or “No, I cannot afford a 3-D television this year.”
Diagnosing Affluenza
To conquer the affluenza virus, though, one must first recognize it within himself and ask why and from where it comes. Ask yourself the following questions:
- Do you frequently buy things you do not really need?
- When shopping, are you unable to control how much you spend?
- Do you envy the lifestyles of the rich and famous?
- Do you feel bad when your neighbors have things you do not?
- Do you measure yourself by what others have?
- Do you ever use shopping as a means of escape?
- Do you use your possessions to impress others?
- Do you compare your possessions with what your peers have? If so, do you experience a feeling of superiority that yours are better?
- Do you speak often about the things you want?
- Do you find yourself complaining about the things you want but cannot afford?
- Do you think of spending your money more often than saving it?
- Do you often think your life would be more complete if you had more money and possessions?
In his book The Selfish Capitalist: Origins of Affluenza, psychologist Oliver James said that “selfish capitalism” (affluenza) is literally making us sick. He added that the emergence of selfish capitalism in the late 1970s has led to an increase in mental illness. The World Health Organization, along with nationally representative studies in the United States, Britain and Australia, show that incidences of mental illness have almost doubled between the 1980s and the turn of the 21st century—to the point that an average of 23 percent of Americans, Britons, Australians, New Zealanders, and Canadians suffered from it in 2007 (Guardian).
Affluenza leads to worry, anxiety, depression and possibly, if left unchecked, mental illness. Why?
The reason is that it creates unrealistic expectations that cannot be met. Those infected end up blaming themselves and feel like failures. With their self-esteem battered, they strive even harder to attain their unreachable goals and eventually end up anxious, nervous, sad and depressed.
end quote from:
“Affluenza”—A Modern Epidemic
I have met many people like this because I have been in more affluent situations since the mid 1990s. I'm not like this because I grew up lower middle class and then middle class as a child and young adult. So, I suffered enough with real life where the rubber meets the road not to be like this ever. However, it is sort of pathetic when you meet people like this because you know when you meet them that they might never grow out of this state and even die like this unless something shocks them out of it. Even then, they might slip back into it because it is comfortable for them because it is all they have ever known.
My experience as a young person was the opposite of Affluenza:
I was so disgusted by materialism and being addicted to a mortgage etc. that I moved to the country during the 1970s as part of the "Back to the land movement" and bought 2 1/2 acres by 1980 and built myself an A Frame 10 miles from the nearest small town without even electricity or a phone and home schooled my children for 5 years and traveled with them when I could. This was the direct opposite of affluenza because I was finding out who I was and being with nature and teaching my kids that they could be anyone they chose to be.
Where as "Affluenza" is sort of like being a drug addict in that you are so addicted to material things that you will do literally anything to get your fix. So, in that world people and their needs are not important to you. Whether they die or not means nothing to you. So, you put your need for things (clothes, cars, drugs, whatever) above the needs of others and you could care less if they die because (you don't care because it doesn't directly affect you).
Later: I was thinking today that the French Revolution was also partly caused by people this out of touch in the aristocracy of France in the 1790s. To them, the common people were at best domesticated animals and beasts of burden and sexual toys during those times. But, guillotines ended all that for them.
To some degree we had the same experience here in the early parts of the 20th century only it did not end in revolution. It ended instead in the Great Depression, and World War II and then the greatest affluence America had ever known(for the average person) before or since in the 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s. By 1980 the same kinds of problems began to crop up again. It appears mostly that they are cyclical and go in cycles of around 50 to 100 years. IN other words similar kinds of problems are occurring(and getting progressively worse) since 1980 here in the U.S. (North America and Europe as well) that occurred from around the 1880s or 1890s to the 1929 and the Great Depression that was created by the Stock Market crash right now.
One of the few things that actually might prevent another Great Depression anytime from now to the next 50 years would be another Glass STeagle Act.
Glass-Steagall Act - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glass–Steagall_LegislationThe term Glass–Steagall Act usually refers to four provisions of the U.S. Banking Act of 1933 that limited commercial bank securities activities and affiliations ...Glass-Steagall Act Definition | Investopedia
www.investopedia.com/terms/g/glass_steagall_act.aspAn act the U.S. Congress passed in 1933 as the Banking Act, which prohibited commercial banks from participating in the investment banking business.What Was The Glass-Steagall Act? - Investopedia
www.investopedia.com/articles/03/071603.aspFeb 26, 2009 - Established in 1933 and repealed in 1999, the Glass-Steagall Act had good intentions but mixed results.Glass-Steagall Act - Legal Dictionary - The Free Dictionary
legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Glass-Steagall+ActGlass-Steagall Act. The Glass-Steagall Act, also known as the Banking Act of 1933 (48 Stat. 162), was passed by Congress in 1933 and prohibits commercial ...
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
“Affluenza”—A Modern Epidemic
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment