Collective Affluenza

[cheeni]

Af-flu-en-za n.

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.

That should lend a little context to this curious addition to the parlance of our times.

I was reading a review of a book by the same name in Frontline - which IMO is about the best opinion magazine that India has come up with. Read it for the columnists, and the specials - any news reporting is pedestrian. Also, watch out, there seems to be very little editorial control, so you can get the most vacuous of stories slipping in.

Enough digressing, here's the FL book review:
http://flonnet.com/fl2125/stories/20041217000307300.htm

Here's the PBS show the book is based on:
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/

If you've been through a case of Affluenza I'm sure you can relate to it. I'd recommend this story on Kuro5hin too if you want to think about this issue.

Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic
By John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor, David Horsey, Scott Simon
Amazon.com Price: $12.21
Average Amazon rating:
ISBN/ASIN: 1-57675-199-6