Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us

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Affluenza had a significant impact on my views on the consumption of goods. While reading it, I found many nuances unfamiliar to me before, even though I was aware of the environmental issues related to people overconsuming products. The reasons for this seem to be even less obvious, as these are not ones that are considered in everyday life. How society has changed over the past century is also surprising, as it is hard to imagine that a simple aspect as the attitude to buying things could change so dramatically in such a short period. It made me think of what is possible to do to change the situation around affluenza. I thought that perhaps it is not possible to make instant changes in the behavior of others, yet the idea of starting with yourself is certainly applicable to overconsumption.

I think that every person who is from a relatively wealthy country has some form of affluenza. It is hard to remember a person who does not occasionally buy goods they do not need. These can be clothes, food, furniture, and other products that are easy to be kept minimalistic. Nevertheless, many people buy much more than they need, including my family and me. I would not say that we are into shopping as much as people from the book’s examples, but we often buy unnecessary goods. One of the best products that I discovered in the book was the reasoning for overconsumption, and one of the causes seems to stand out. People nowadays are very attached to short-time and small feelings of pleasure, which eventually led to the formation of a void that always wants more. Filling this void is claimed to be one of the causes of affluenza, and it is rather insightful for me.

I believe that we get very frustrated over a period of time without fulfilling our need in positive emotions from small actions, including purchases. It seems to be one of the main reasons why people who are not into shopping still overconsume. This made me slightly change my view of my family’s environmental impact. It was hard to guess before that we negatively affect the environment on a regular basis, not even noticing it. I started to commit to a couple of rules when buying goods which will allow me to reduce my consumption. I decided that having a list of things that I am going to buy is crucial, as it will not allow me purposelessly go shopping. Besides, one of the main rules that I figured out for myself is that I can still buy things that are on the list, but they have to be necessary, and there should be no more than a few of them.

I believe that looking for compromises with yourself instead of being too strict with your habits is key to reducing overconsumption. I will not buy clothes when I do not need them and have a wardrobe with comfortable outfits, though buying clothes to support artists or charity is still fine. I think this should be viewed as a diet – most of the time, you have restrictions on certain things, but once a week or two, everything is allowed in reasonable amounts. When applying this to consumption, it works great as well.

Information is one of the key tools to change the world around a person, and it seems to be the case in this situation too. It is necessary to share with friends and close ones that there are certain issues that not only negatively affect our own lives but the environment too. It is great that many people nowadays are aware of the environmental problems and do a lot on their side to at least reduce the harm that they cause. I think spreading information about how overconsumption impairs the environment would be very beneficial.

Moreover, having a talk about it is rather interesting, as I believe that many people did not see the whole picture before, and the consequences of them buying an extra t-shirt are not apparent to them. The way the book tells about the problems present is unique. It is more interesting and intriguing to read about an illness that has diseased the whole world instead of reading articles and reports about environmental problems. Such an approach to providing the information is great, and it would certainly fit in communication between people, which will allow for spreading of knowledge.

It is certainly easy to draw parallels between the examples presented in the book and real life, as many people have experienced affluenza in a certain form. I have seen these parallels both in the lives of my close ones and in my own life as well. There are some bright examples of people described in the book, as everybody knows a person or two who is obsessed with buying things, and most things they are worried about are related to them being unable to buy something for a reason of unavailability or expensiveness (de Graaf et al., 2014). These people can be called affluenza patients with severe symptoms, as they are often obsessed with their consumption habits.

Though, it is necessary to mention that I had a scepsis regarding the ideas of the book while reading it. This scepsis was based on the knowledge that modern society often demonizes aspects of life that it is used to. There are thoughts to take into consideration when discussing things like consumption, particularly their pros and cons. The cons are heavily emphasized in literature like Affluenza, although it is rarely mentioned that getting rid of certain things would have a negative effect as well. Even in terms of the environment, the economic problems that can occur because of the decrease in consumption can cause significant issues.

If people suddenly would stop overconsuming, many businesses would go bankrupt. As there would still be products manufactured previously even after the production stops, there would go to waste. Obviously, more waste always means more harm to the environment. Another consideration to be taken into account is the manufacturing changes that may occur after society starts to consume less. There is a significant possibility that production will become less green and more wasteful because of lower budgets available to companies. And these are only the environmental changes that will occur, whereas social and economic problems can encompass wider areas. To conclude this thought, I would say that the book lacks depth in its third part, where the authors suggest how the current situation can be changed, how the side effects of it can be handled, and what they will be. I believe that it is necessary to have at least a rough plan of action that should be implemented to neutralize the negative effects of events, even if their result is mostly positive.

The book has very useful and unapparent information about the effects of society’s consumption habits on the environment. It provides information about the symptoms of affluenza, its causes, and the ways to treat it. As mentioned before, I think that the last part lacks depth and does not have answers to the questions that will certainly arise if a reader is skeptical about the authors’ position. Nevertheless, it is a good book with an important message, and it is fine that some people might find it incomplete in some terms. What is really significant is the concern that it brings to society about its habits, how they have changed and what they have led to environmentally.

My score on the affluenza quiz was 43, which was not a surprising value to get. While reading the book, I already got the idea that there are some issues in my consumption habits related to media and food in particular. Therefore, having a “mild form” of affluenza was not shocking. Rather than it was assuring me that my guesses about having problems were correct. Nevertheless, I do not view these problems as catastrophic, as they are easily fixable. The claims made in the book regarding the addictiveness of consumption are certainly correct, but often the addictiveness is determined by a lack of motivation to get rid of a habit. I believe that it is the case with overconsumption, if people have the time and resources to overconsume, they do not see any reasons to stop. Moreover, as mentioned before, most people are unaware of the negative environmental effects of overconsumption, and they perceive it purely as an additional way to make their life better.

In some terms, it is true, as people who are paid for their fair work definitely deserve rest that provides them with positive emotions. Consuming is one of the easiest ways for people to do so, even though the money or time they spend is often not achieved easily. Therefore, I think that bringing consumption to an absolute minimum, which seems to be suggested by the authors, is incorrect. People deserve to buy things and feel good about spending money they have earned, but looking for a compromise is an option. It is necessary to let society know that overconsumption can be harmful to them and to the environment, and it has to be taken seriously. Not many people would agree to minimize their consumption habits, but it is possible to convince them that they can and should consume less.

There are many other options in the contemporary world to care about the environment even while consuming rather than not consuming at all. Many people started to commit to local products to reduce gas emissions, eat less meat and generally design their diet to be as environment-friendly as possible. Other aspects of consumption can be changed as well to become greener, which would certainly be better viewed by society instead of restricting themselves from things they love. Additions based on these concepts would fit the book and make skeptical readers more open to it and changes in their lives to cause less environmental harm.

Reference

de Graaf, J., Wann, D. & Naylor, T.H. (2014). Affluenza: How overconsumption is killing us and how to fight back. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

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Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us

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