Affluenza: To Buy or Not To Buy

Affluenza: To Buy or Not To Buy

There is an epidemic widespread throughout the country. A highly contagious disease of being out of control; overconsumption, and the symptoms normally include compulsive shopping,

high debt, overwork, a sense of entitlement, obsession with externals and "having it all," wastefulness, and stress. The disease is called affluenza, which is derived from the word

"affluence," meaning: abundant supply, wealth, and riches. 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 American Dream. 3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth."

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 fulfill our hopes for power, happiness, acceptance, success, achievement, and personal worth." Example the factory worker who dreams of winning the lottery and devotes a chunk of his weekly paycheck toward buying tickets. The secretary who spends her grocery money at a shoe sale nearly every week before paying the household bills.

"What is Affluenza" a web site I read to better understand what Affluenza really meant, warns that "those of us who buy into the advertisers' messages find our time so consumed by jobs we don't even like, in order to have the money to buy products that we get little real satisfaction from, that we have little time left for enjoying family and friends, participating in our

community, or nurturing ourselves intellectually, culturally, or spiritually. The result being emptiness, debt, and troubled and or failed marriages and family relationships".

Affluenza: To Buy or Not To Buy 3

It does not matter what the level of pay; there are always some common symptoms:

Ð'* Inability to delay gratification and tolerate frustration;

Ð'* A false sense of entitlement;

Ð'* Loss of future motivation;

Ð'* Low self-worth;

Ð'* A dysfunctional relationship with wealth or money

There are a number of things to consider when dealing with Affluenza such as the fact that 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. We work longer, have less time for families, and are more stressed out we tend to get. It is said that Affluenza is not about shopping addictions or compulsive behavior. If anything it is about getting your priorities wrong in my opinion. About getting into the habit of buying Ð''stuff'. Of constantly buying stuff, more stuff and even more stuff. Now that credit cards can be used everywhere from grocery stores to gas stations, "charge it" may be the two most expensive words in the English