Glenda Simms, Contributor
JOHN CHRISTOFFERSON of the Associated Press informs us in the October 31, 2003 edition of the Edmonton Journal that the term "affluenza" was introduced by author John de Graaf in his book, Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic.
In this book, "affluenza" was defined as the process by which "the good life" has become "the goods life".
It is "mindless consumption" which gives no thought to "its impact on our health, our friends, our communities and our environment".
"Affluenza" appears to be a malady of the nouveau riche who are bent on spoiling their children with electronic gadgets, fast cars and designer clothing.
Using the wealthy, upscale community of Greenwich, Connecticut to illustrate the symptoms of affluenza, Christofferson described the ways in which many children and young people have developed a "dysfunctional" or unhealthy relationship with money or the pursuit of wealth.
In trying to create a more desirable attitudinal framework for their children, some parents, mostly women, are now attending workshops to deal with the pressures of raising children amidst the affluence of their wealthy enclaves in Greenwich.
It would appear that it is the women who are trying to face this challenge.
Christofferson's report quoted one woman who said, "she spent money to fill an emotional need". Another "consider shopping to be a sport" and another one "could not think of a good reason to say no to her children since she clearly had the money to spoil them".
While some participants in the "affluenza" workshops acknowledged the joys of the "goods life," they worry about the impact on their children of the "McMansions" with too many bedrooms to fill and too many toilets to flush.
In societies where the contrast between the affluent and the poor is very stark, not too many people will have any sympathy for rich people who are suddenly discovering that "money does not necessarily buy happiness".
Poor people have long dismissed the notion that "it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven."
When the poor observe the consumption patterns of the well-to-do, they are convinced that the "goods life" must be the "good life". They, therefore, strive, through any means necessary, to get the material goods to give them a sense of themselves as "important and worthy human beings".
It is in this syndrome of consumption beyond our means and outside of the band of what we really need, that the populations of most Third World countries formulate their ideas of success and personhood.
'ABJECTLY POOR'
So in a real sense, "affluenza" is a problem not only of the "idle rich" but also of those who are often described as the "abjectly poor".
This latter group are the people who live in the most awful conditions of urban rot and rural poverty. These are those who own no property, have no jobs and do not enjoy the basic amenities of flushed toilets or adequate running water.
These are people who live in households which predispose children to underachieve and to have minimal chances of "making it" in a highly competitive and increasing technological environment.
Within these social and economic restrictions, we find people who sport designer clothes, display layers of gold chains and other "bling, bling" around their necks and live in households in which everyone, including the children, have cellular phones.
Further afield, there have been numerous anecdotal and written stories of poor, black men who demonstrate signs of "affluenza" in the ghettos of cities such as New York, Detroit and Chicago.
Some of these persons are reported to own Cadillacs and other high-priced motor vehicles, but have no place to call home. In fact, there are stories of men who actually live in their vehicles, which are usually parked in some of the most run down areas of the "hood".
Now that the "consumption frenzy" of the crassly commercialised Christmas season is here again, many poor people will feel pressured to pretend to be affluent.
They will stretch their limited resources to buy gadgets such as fake Christmas trees, high-priced packaged gifts and cheap "bling, bling" produced in China to give to their children and their friends.
AVOID LURE
Perhaps the time is right for some enterprising person to develop a series of workshops to help poor people to avoid the lure of the commercial aspects of Christmas.
In this process, they could be encouraged to concentrate instead on the values of love, friendship and family.
Perhaps, if we could be so oriented, we might find ourselves with a bit of money to survive "the after-Christmas blues" of the economic hardships which we must confront from January to November, 2004.
In a real sense, poor people need to develop a consciousness that will protect them from "affluenza".
Let the affluent wrestle with their own "demons".
Dr. Glenda Simms is the executive director of the Bureau of Women's Affairs.
