Affluenza! Gesundheit!

Wikipedia calls affluenza “affluenza, n. 1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the pursuit of the American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

Investopedia Says: Affluenza is arguably present in the United States, where the culture is one that prides itself on possessions and financial success. Mainstream media outlets, such as television broadcasts, tend to show how pervasive the idea has become. Affluenza also tends to bring with it very high social costs and strains already diminishing environmental and natural resources.

Leatherhead has put together this simple test to determine whether you suffer from Affluenza:

Have you contacted the affluenza virus? Not sure?

Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the following statements.

• I would like to be a wealthy person.

• I would like my name known by many people

• I would like to successfully hide the signs of ageing

• I would like to be admired by many people

• I would like to have people comment often about how attractive I look

• I like to keep up with fashions in hair and clothing

• I would like to have my name appear frequently in the media

• I often compare what I own with what others own

• Possessions can be just as important as people

• Shopping or thinking about what to buy greatly preoccupies me

• If a friend can’t help me get ahead in life, I usually end the friendship

• I’m less concerned with what work I do than with what I get for it

• I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes

• My life would be better if I owned certain things I don’t have now

• The things I will own will say a lot about how well I’ve done in life

• I want a lot of luxury in life.

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions, then it’s said you have the virus.

The more ‘yes’ answered, the higher the viral load and the more depressed you are likely to be.

Malcom wrote an intersting article entitled “How did I become a good consumer.” where he talks about economic expectations from childhood through adulthood.

It seems as if the term Affluenza is almost making light of the growing epidemic of Consumerism. It is after all a mixture of the words affluent and influenza. Whether the term Affluenza makes it way into the worldwide lexicon remains to be seen, but PBS recently ran an episode on it, and the photo to the right is the cover of a book written by John de Graaf (Author), David Wann (Author) and Thomas H Naylor. (click to purchase)

There are a lot of things that effect our planets environmental health, but the two biggest ones (in my humble opinion) are over population and excessive consumerism. To learn more about the consumer cradle to grave cycle, check out this excellent video called “The Story Of Stuff“.

As always, don”t forget to Alter the Eco and keep up the good fight,

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