Naylor's Affluenz All-Consuming Epidemic

Only a couple of decades ago, hard work and determination guided people to obtain a piece of the opportunity America is all about. Lately there is a surge in having our fifteen minutes of fame and work less, buy more. There are Americans who feel that materialism is the way to obtain true American happiness. TV ads bombard the population with information on what is truly needed to be the best. All media outlets convey how to be more like the famous. Commercials inform on how this star uses this phone and this athlete buys this car. In trying to assimilate to others, some continue to spend even though they cannot afford it. In “Framing Class, Vicarious Living,

Consumerism leads to self-gratification and the loss of life’s important values such as friendship, love and religion; this is an ever-growing issue that manipulates and deceives society and has done so since the beginning of the technological age.

Affluenza is a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. It is a powerful virus that has infected the American society, threatening our wallets, our friendships, our families, our communities, and our environment. Since the United States has become the economic model for most of the world this virus is now flowing freely on every continent. The costs and consequences of this disease are massive even though they are often concealed. Left untreated however, it can cause permanent discontent. Affluenza is based on our culture and how it encourages its citizens to measure their worth by financial success and material possessions. The media such as the

The general intelligence of humanity is dropping. It may not be obvious to most, but the people who are smart or bright now, would have been average fifty years ago. Everything is being made easier and being pushed back, so that it is less apparent that things are understood less and to a lower degree. One has to finish college now, to get the equivalent of a high school education.

“It’s not what you own its what people think you own” (Ewen 183). Consumerism is fueling today’s “middle class”. Stewart Ewen’s “Chosen People” goes into detail about the rise of the materialistic middle class.

Before reading the excerpts from “The Overspent American” I was not familiar with Juliet Schor’s work. While reading however, I saw that her views were different from many of the other authors that we have read so far. When I had finished the reading I found the reading enjoyable and fascinating. The reason that her writing intrigued me was because of her multiple perspectives while writing. Not only does she concentrate on the economics of American people, but she also uses a sociologist lens to show the purchasing habits of our culture. “The Overspent American” focuses on how we as a society have changed our spending patterns from the past. During the 1950s the phrase “keeping up with the Jones’” was coined and it represented Americans trying to outspend their neighbors and friends. For example, my friend buys a boat and I also need to buy a boat to make sure my friends saw me as being wealthy. Today our society as changed in many ways but Schor finds that our spending habits have altered the most since the 1950s. By analyzing and evaluating her work, one can see how Americans spending habits have changed over time and how our economics have been overtaken by television and broadcast media.

A new has entered the American vocabulary: affluenza. Affluenza is defined as the unsustainable addiction to economic growth. Many scholars, writers, and comedians have made America's affluenza mentality as a warning to the American people, as well as the bud of jokes. Based on human nature, and strive for a more advanced life; Americans are truly people who need more growth. Affluenza is a characteristic that humans have been exemplifying for centuries.

In Mark de la Vina's article, he addresses the issue of young adults spending money on high-end brands rather than an education, This issue he has brought attention to emphasizes the importance of what most adults prioritize. His evidence of ordinary people finding comfort in such high quality products prove that this is a completely normal habit to most of them. With this culturistic issue among the young generation, Vina's argument of the gold-collared generation hindering society is valid.

Affluenza is defined as the need to consume and pursuit a high status in society. In the book Affluenza: The All Consuming Epidemic by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor, the authors explain affluenza, and how it causes overwork, personal stress, the erosion of family and community, high debt, and the growing dissatisfaction for current living. A large contributor to affluenza is advertisement, a tactic that encourages over consumption by purchasing items irrationally. The sports industry has been taken over by advertisement, allowing corporations to take full advantage of the satisfaction that sports entertainment brings to the fans.

Hunger for luxury items and people’s strife for the brands and items they associate with being beyond reach is paramount for this system. It is this drive for items one can’t have that the author feels is one of the benefits of consumerism. He declares, “…the aspiration of the poor to

There are two possible courses to affluence. Wants may be "easily satisfied" either by producing much or desiring little. The familiar conception, the Galbraithean way- based on the concept of market economies- states that man's wants are great, not to say infinite, whereas his means

Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent

As Austrian writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote,“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” History and literature have established that the ideal goal every American has wanted is for his thirst for material possessions to be reached, but even then, the individual isn’t truly happy. Money, and the things it can get you, have long been a part of American culture and the materialist culture of society have been examined in numerous ways from novels to the art of those like Andy Warhol. A life free from the economic woes that plague almost everyone seems like the quintessential existence, but material wealth is not a way to mend issues.

With a huge number of victims, 80 to 100 million, since 1918, the influenza is considered as one of the most pandemic diseases ever. There are three types of influenza virus: influenza virus A, influenza virus B, and influenza virus c. These are a subtypes of the virus family orthomyx-oviride. The types B and C do not cause pandemic diseases while type A does. The type A classified into three main subtype H1.N1, H1.N2, and H3.N2. The (H.N) refers to the two kinds of proteins on the surface of the virus (hemagglutinin and neuraminidase). The difference in numbers is due to the difference in protein variability. A H1.N1 virus which is widely known as Spanish flu is the only type that can transmit from human to human. The H5.N1, or “bird flu”

Today, people consume for pleasure. The act of consuming goods may allow one to fit in, feel confident, or participate socially in shopping culture. Consumerism has become a universal behaviour amongst most people and groups. According to Sharon Boden, consumption is affected by both external and internal constraints and expectations (150). I argue that consumerism and consumption is no longer an accurate indicator of a person’s actual status and wealth. As a society, we have increased accessibility to commodities and experiences. For example, driving a Mercedes-Benz is no longer a symbol of being wealthy or belonging to the upper class. Leases or loans have brought such luxuries to a broader spectrum of social