AFFLUENZA

“AFFLUENZA- KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES”
“AFFLUENZA PLAGUES THE SUPERRICH”
“AFFLUENZA- AN UNHAPPY RELATIONSHIP WITH
MONEY”
“WEALTH AND GREED –
DO YOU SUFFER FROM AFFLUENZA?”

Affluenza, the conflation of the words affluent and influenza. Defined as an extreme form of materialism or an unsustainable addiction to economic growth, affluenza is said to be the new age lifestyle disorder that has plagued every developed and developing economy in the world. This illness is said to be something that is constantly reinforcing itself at both the individual and the social levels.
Affluenza has been described as:
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 dogged pursuit of the dough.
3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.

Affluenza is to be blamed for problems like over-consumption, luxury fever, consumer debt, overwork, waste and harm to the environment. The symptoms of affluenza also manifest themselves psychologically with disorders like alienation, stress and depression. Affluenza has been attributed to overwork, personal stress, the erosion of family and community, skyrocketing debt, and the growing gap between rich and poor.

Overabundance is making the whole world a place filled with lifestyle disorders. The drive to make more dough has made people super stressful. Overabundance in every sense comes as a major blow for today’s nuclear families, with busy parents and often-neglected children. Their kids have certain aimlessness about them. Now, in a good scenario this is what draws them to charity. In a bad case, they become aimless spoilt party sisters. Only parents can guard children against these terrible situations. Instead of laying it all out for them, instil in them a sense of direction. But what if the parents themselves are victims of affluenza? This is not an improbable situation. In professions where big money can be made in less time, affluenza hits hard. Sadly, today rich has become synonymous with ‘fake’. At some level or the other, everyone suffers from affluenza. Why else would parents deprive their children of the joy of waiting to have something, or working towards it?

However, it is not just the people's fault. Advertisers infect the country with more things that they "need" to have. Commercials are like the germs. Once people are exposed to them, over and over, they are bound to catch the sickness. It is a fact that “advertisers who promote and shape a consumer’s way of life seek to condition us to the idea that by trading our “life” for the money needed to buy their product, in hopes we can fulfil our hopes for power, happiness, acceptance, success, achievement, and personal worth.”

Strangeness characterizes this disease in many other ways too. Almost every one of us actively carries it. Its effects influence not only the immediate carrier but also society at large. Its symptoms are so commonplace that few people make a connection between the disease and the discomfort that it breeds. It infects rich and poor alike, and is beginning to imbed itself in younger and younger carriers. Oddly, those that do recognize the scourge that it sometimes brings are disparagingly referred to as hypocrites, elitists, party-poopers, or catastrophists. And most confusing, it is a disease that is socially acceptable among many of us.

America is said to be hit by the disease at large. America has five percent of the world's population and we consume thirty times as much as other countries. Paris Hilton is said to be hit by affluenza. According to affluenza.org, the average adult spends more time shopping each week than she/he spends with his or her children. “More Americans visit shopping malls on Sunday than go to church. More Americans file for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college.” The average American home is more than twice as large as it was in the 1950s, yet the average family is smaller.A large part of our country is still untouched by this dreadful syndrome. Affluenza strikes a thin stratum of the super wealthy Indians.