What is “affluenza” and what are its socio-psychological risks and effects?
Affluenza
Almost all modern sociologists and psychologists call nowadays society a consumer society. For many people buying and selling goods and services became the most important social and economic activity. The need for consumption spreads like a fever, an infection that confuses the minds of everyone. The need for consumption is like an Influenza, an affluenza.
The word “affluenza” was used for the first time in 1996 on the TV-show about consumption. Words “influenza” and “affluence” were half-jokingly combined. But the meaning of this term has been so important and relevant that in 2001 John de Graaf, environmental scientist David Wann, and economist Thomas H. Naylor published a book devoted to this phenomenon. According to them affluenza is a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more (de Graaf, Wann, & Naylor, 2001).
It is not a secret that modern society produces a lot more goods than it is able to consume. Beside the global and dangerous consequences, such as the exhaustion of natural resources and environmental pollution, which are obvious, it also has a negative impact on the average person’s lifestyle. Because consumption became such a big and important part of our culture, ordinary people spend much more money on unnecessary goods and services than on education and health care. In addition, time spent by parents on shopping greately exceeds time spent with children (Hamilton & Denniss, 2005).
The desire to consume and accumulate acts like a protective mechanism. It is the easiest way in which our unconscious is trying to compensate for the emptiness inside. People infected by affluenza perceive each purchase as a small contribution to their bright future, each purchased good as an anesthetic, capable to mute the sense of emptiness and uncertainty. Unfortunately, it is a self-deception. They are trying to find happiness in goods they buy instead of looking inside themselves. Satisfaction passes quickly and they need to repeat this cycle again.
References
Graaf J. De, Wann D. & Naylor T. (2001). Affluenza: the all consuming epidemic. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Hamilton C. &, Denniss R. (2005). Affluenza: When Too Much is Never Enough. Belmont, AU: Allen & Unwin.
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