Introduction
These chapters fall under part one of Affluenza: The All-consuming Epidemic. This part is generally about symptoms as it provides evidence of extent to which Affluenza has essentially taken hold. The materialistic nature of our society has contributed to these effects through creating capitalism where the haves do not care about the have-nots. In the eighth chapter, “Community Chills,” authors have extensively discussed about impact of Affluenza on the community life. The chapter describes the declining social capital, lack of “sense of place,” and the increasing isolation (Graaf et al 65). For that reason, Affluenza make us become disconnected from the community since we are cocooned in our homes with all the stuff we possess.
In the ninth chapter, “An Ache for Meaning,” the authors extend the discussion of effects of Affluenza through describing lack of meaning in the lives of various individuals. This is brought by us working very hard to get all the stuff we want, a materialistic behavior that makes us end up in the unfulfilling jobs. It is disgusting to note that our materialistic or consumerists society makes us go to college not to expand our hearts, minds, and experiences but to get better jobs that generates more money to buy more stuff. The chapter further elaborates this by describing a research of the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps Workers. This research is juxtaposed with the statistics about the U.S citizens’ high rates of clinical loneliness and depression and the work performed only to pay bills.
Chapter 10, “Social Scars,” reflects on the rising chasm between the haves and have-nots or “other American.” Surprisingly, about 10 million Americans actually go hungry in each day, where 40 percent of them are children and majority are in fact the working families. This is greatly contributed by our high standards for mounting up stuff. To the rich, nonetheless, the underprivileged are almost invisible (Graaf et al 86). Our materialistic society and capitalism is the cause of this behavior. In addition, the behavior has spread to the developing countries where it has resulted to the breakdown of their cultures and their social fabric.
Chapter 11, “Resource Exhaustion,” talks about the damaging effects of Affluenza on the fragile ecosystem of our planet. Thus, our never satisfied need for extra stuff has and will continue wreaking havoc on our environment since we exhaust all the available resources. The authors use specific examples to describe how our consumerist society has damaged the ecosystem through various activities like air pollution from the automobiles, disposal of electronic equipments, among others (Graaf et al 103).
Chapter 14, “Dissatisfaction Guaranteed,” notes that material wealth doesn’t create happiness. Thus, it is true that our focus on the stuff has eventually deviated self-fulfillment from us hence making us more unhappy, dissatisfied, and unfulfilled.
Works cited
De, Graaf J, Thomas H. Naylor, and David Wann. Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. San Francisco, Calif: Berrett-Koehler, 2005.
