The astonishing fact is that there has been an increasing number of individuals filing for bankruptcy in our society. Albeit of late congress made it harder to declare individual bankruptcy, I think this was not a good idea simply because we have developed an over-consumption behavior whose effects are severe. Therefore, the problem of over-consumption has led to poor management of cash among Americans hence this have resulted to negative effects.
Main causes of overconsumption problem.
The snowballing availability of the credit cards is one of the causes that section one of Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic lists. In addition to this, this book notes that the problem of overconsumption in our culture is also caused by our insatiable needs for stuff or simply what they call Affluenza.
After reading section one of Affluenza, it came to my knowledge that one in every 70 United States citizens files for bankruptcy. The authors note how the low savings rate in United States proves that the problem of overconsumption is real. The book talks about the increasing credit cards availability in U.S. hence this strongly backs the causes of this problem.
One of the examples that I have experienced and that supports these causes is how at one point in time many individuals in my neighborhood had to buy a lot of stuff for fear of inflation. Moreover, I experienced my friend going through bankruptcy after poor management of his money as a result of consumer competition.
Main effects of the problem of overconsumption.
Section one of Affluenza lists a number of effects that includes bankruptcy, disconnecting the community members, declining social capital, increased isolation, and decreased participation in the community organizations.
I have experienced some of my friends becoming bankrupt, others becoming poor, others becoming mad, and lack of togetherness in my community as a result of the problem of overconsumption. The examples from my own experience, which support the mentioned effects, include experiencing a number of my friends going through debt counseling and others going through psychological therapy.
Main solution to the problem of overconsumption.
Part three of Affluenza suggests the main solution to the problem of overconsumption. The authors advise us to simply adopt both voluntary and involuntary simpler lifestyles where each one will be satisfied with what he or she can afford.
I think the main solution to the problem of overconsumption is for people to start making small changes in their lifestyles since after my friends started changing theirs they freed themselves from overconsumption problem.
Works cited
De, Graaf J, Thomas H. Naylor, and David Wann. Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. San Francisco, Calif: Berrett-Koehler, 2005.
