Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic

What an eye opener. Everyone needs to read this. Speaks volumes about the state of our beings.

Originally a one hour special on PBS about overconsumption in the 1990s, the book Affluenza expands on what the show had to say on the subject. The first two sections section of the book covers how American society shifted over to a consumer society from a more frugal and saving society. The shift came from post-World War II prosperity, the growth of suburbia, continued influence of advertising, and other factors, leading to now, with people having very large houses, storage units, working longer and longer hours with less vacations, and continuing declines in reported quality of life. Part three covers ways to shift one's life from this high focus on stuff back to focusing on community and family and the world around us. Given the recent economic collapses, I think more Americans would benefit from reading and applying the techniques in this book.I do have one disagreement with a statement in the book. One of the suggestions made for less consumption of meat, because of cattle using up so much grain and water in their raising. First, when cows are fed properly on the food they are designed to eat (grass, NOT grain, cows get sick on grain), they actually enhance overall quality of both the meat produced and the land on which they graze. Secondly, the implication in this statement that people can eat the grain is questionable, since there are so many people with gluten issues as is, and that a heavily grain based diet is potentially one of the big causes for so much chronic illness in Americans. I do think Americans eat too much food, period. Not simply meat. Among our collective affluenza, "we" are obsessed with the idea of getting the highest volume of food for the least amount of cost. Never mind the quality of the food, or how the animals are treated, or how much fertilizer needs to be dumped on fallow land because it's being overtaxes by monocultures.Otherwise, I highly recommend the book. In fact I think it's close to necessary reading.

I’m not sure why I enjoyed this (slightly) more than The Paradox of Choice that I also recently finished. They both deal with essentially the same issue – we gringos are surrounded by, and thus seduced into acquiring too much junk and the resulting depression from debt and/or the process of wading through endless options harshes our buzz. Perhaps Affluenza’s cartoon illustration inclusions are better? Maybe it’s the goofy “As seen on PBS” cover graphic? At the very least, my favorite/most dismal baseball team finally won a game so my mood is slightly elevated recently. Here the authors interview and grab quotes, studies, and anecdotes from a wide ranging cast of characters to illuminate how the typical US citizen’s priorities have become most skewed within a society that is increasingly defined by the GDP metric. Tidbits from economists, suburbanites, New Agers, the “Good Book,” and marketing experts cast illumination on the dreadful plague we (or at least some) experience as the forty hour work week and easily procured credit. Written ten years back, it’s simultaneously dated in certain aspects (access to network TV used to be free?) yet even more relevant in others. I didn’t necessarily find it a “page-turner” but it’s short enough to quickly get through and the diversity of topical areas prevent staleness.Ooh, I figured out why I prefer this one to Schwartz’s effort. On the final page they mention architecture – something about how we should build for a thousand years instead erecting disposable trash such as the ubiquitous eight year Wal-Mart. Of the many dozens of NOT-architecture-specific, non-fiction books I’ve recently encountered, this is the only one that even acknowledges the existence of my chosen profession; something of an unexpected shout-out to a mostly forgotten profession on life-support. Good read!

It's good to know that I'm doing at least some things right, though I know I could do more. Reading this book only reaffirmed my beliefs about the state of over-consumption in America and increasingly, in the world. Written tongue-in-cheek as an exposé of the disease of affluenza, the authors discuss the disorder's symptoms, causes, and treatments.I always seem to read these types of books after the predictions have come true. For example, take the credit crash of fall 2008. For anyone in government or business who said the state of credit in America was fine and were surprised by the catastrophe, this book is but one exhibit in a litany of books, articles, and documentaries that surmised a crash would be the inevitable conclusion. It makes me wonder what the authors of Affluenza would have written had they had the chance to see what happened under the Bush administration. I imagine it would have gone from concerned and distressed to appalled and disgusted.For me the highlight was part two: causes of affluenza. It was wonderful to hear Marx again and incongruous that as a society we still fail to heed his advice. Again and again throughout history we are shown the errors of our ways yet still make the same mistakes. And now with the rest of the world watching and imitating us, we're taking everyone down the primrose path. Hopefully this time, we will have learned some lessons. It's not just the economy that is at stake if we don't - it's our environment, our health, our families, and our self-worth.

A very insightful book about our out of control consumer culture. Though it is about 6 or 7 years old, it is very prophetic about our current economic situation. It basically says that unbridled greed and consumption will lead to a massive economic downturn. Sound familiar?

Although I agree with the overall premise of the book, that we should all consider how we spend our earnings and evaluate our wants versus our needs, I found this book to be very repetitive and preachy.