Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us--and How to Fight Back

Welcome to the enhanced edition of Affluenza! Each chapter of this updated third edition features scenes from the popular national PBS specials “Affluenza” and “Escape from Affluenza,” co-produced by Affluenza co-author John de Graaf and hosted by National Public Radio's Scott Simon. This iconic book shows how problems ranging from loneliness, endless working hours, and family conflict to rising debt, environmental pollution, and rampant commercialism are all symptoms of this global plague. In the enhanced edition you'll see hilarious skits including the frightening original diagnosis of “affluenza” and the shocking “surrender of the Joneses.” You'll meet experts and hear from ordinary people about how affluenza has affected their lives and what they are doing about it. You'll see victims of shopping fever and swollen expectations as they roam through the “affluenza hot zones” of tourist-destination shopping malls, watch in horror as marketers plan the manipulation of children, take a quick trip through the history of this dreaded disease, and see its often invisible but terrible consequences made visible. But it's not all gloom and doom—far from it. You'll also drop in on a simplicity circle (“affluholics anonymous!”), wander through a magical marsh where you come out enriched “and your wallet is still as full as when you left home,” and share the life of an urban family who is beating the bug! The authors also trace the role overconsumption played in the Great Recession, discuss new ways to measure social health and success (such as the Gross Domestic Happiness index), and offer policy recommendations to make our society more simplicity-friendly. Remember that nine out of ten doctors recommend this book as the cure for affluenza! Happy reading and...happy viewing! There are a total of 23 videos spanning 39:36 minute. File size: 379.7 MB Affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more. We tried to warn you! The 2008 economic collapse proved how resilient and dangerous affluenza can be. Now in its third edition, this book can safely be called prophetic in showing how problems ranging from loneliness, endless working hours and family conflict to rising debt, environmental pollution and rampant commercialism are all symptoms of this global plague. The new edition traces the role overconsumption played in the Great Recession, discusses new ways to measure social health and success (such as the Gross Domestic Happiness index), and offers policy recommendations to make our society more simple-friendly. The underlying message isn’t to stop buying—it’s to remember, always, that the best things in life aren’t things