Comments for Transformation Central Blog

Comment on Escaping Affluenza by Affluenza in America and in Oak Grove « Happy

Affluenza in America and in Oak Grove « Happy — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 19:18:46 +0000

[...] that it corrupt or damaged the person. Sometimes a person can be affluenza and not no it. This condition can cost an individual his or her life or the people around them. Affluenza has a gargantuan effect [...]

Comment on Plea to my fellow immigrants, let us not bury our voices alive by joyce

joyce — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 03:37:05 +0000

keep writing! i have the same feeling about not been able to be understood because of grammatical errors but its never too late to fix it, keep it up!

Comment on queen bee affluenza by geekinthepink

geekinthepink — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 06:07:56 +0000

I think it’s interesting to to see the extent of influence of “branding.”
It was funny to see the typical weekend for you was represented by shopping. Unfortunately, most teenagers don’t realize there are more things to do other than just visiting the malls.

Also, the idea of keeping up with the trends and how the media impacts students by encouraging them to get the most recent “hot item.”
Even now I feel that we have desires to keep up with societal pressures. We struggle to get the newest iPOD or the “coolest” touch screen phone in spite of our knowing that we are being lured by greedy capitalists trying to make us buy their products. The consequences of the persuasive advertisements and marketing almost seem inevitable.

Comment on Escaping Affluenza by Priya Agarwal-Harding

Priya Agarwal-Harding — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:04:03 +0000

I think that you make a great point regarding how the current economic recession in the United States could have a silver lining of forcing people to focus on the utility of goods rather than marginal utility. Consumer culture has become so embedded in our culture that I think, unfortunately, it is almost necessary for something like an economic recession, an economically as well as psychologically damaging event, to turn it around. However, I think that the public would need a lot of society as well as government support in order to achieve this turn around, which I am not sure if feasible. During times of economic recession, the government generally tried to increase spending in order to inject more money into the system, rather than decrease it, even if it might benefit uur well-being overall. However, I think the current Obama administration might be able to follow through with anti-affluenxa policies, and thereby support the move away from consumer culture. For instance, Obama’s emphasis on “going green” and trying to shrink to United States’ ecological footprint will definitely contribute and push the public to buy “greener” goods or less goods all together.

I can completely relate to your stories about feeling as if you needed the latest toy or article of clothing to feel loved or fit into your community. Even if one’s parents try to instill anti-consumer culture values in us, our interactions in school and in other public spaces still influence us. members of our society have gotten so accustomed to purchasing goods for fun or to fit in, rather than because we need them, I am not sure that many people will be able to tear themselves away from this lifestyle. However, I do think that affluenza can be cured. I think the larger question is whether people will be willing to give up their luxuries and cut down.

Comment on Escaping Affluenza by Priya Agarwal-Harding

Priya Agarwal-Harding — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:03:18 +0000

I can completely relate to your stories about feeling as if you needed the latest toy or article of clothing to feel loved or fit into your community. Even if one’s parents try to instill anti-consumer culture values in us, our interactions in school and in other public spaces still influence us. members of our society have gotten so accustomed to purchasing goods for fun or to fit in, rather than because we need them, I am not sure that many people will be able to tear themselves away from this lifestyle. However, I do think that afluenza can be cured. I think the larger question is whether people will be willing to give up their luxuries and cut down.

Comment on Musings on Affluenza… by llambert

llambert — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:47:56 +0000

I agree with JP’s argument and see a lot of parallels to my life. A few years ago, my mother asked to take care of some banking business for her. I did and over the years I have been the one to handle most of her finances. The times when I do not are when she must present identification for a withdrawal and things of that nature.
It is very important for children to learn at an early age the value of a dollar- what it really is to earn, spend and save. And parents need to practice financial diets, so that children do not grow thinking that luxuries are part of our basic necessities.

It is also noteworthy how much Affluenza impacts our lives. JP pointed out that many who struggle don’t have to, but choose to. This is so true and the fight to work and to keep up takes a toll on the body-exhaustion and stress- and weakens its defenses.

With respect to the comment regarding life after graduation, I believe that having started your financial life knowing about spending and saving, it is likely that you will continue in those ways. Also, the company you keep may contribute to the way you live financially. I am not sure if there is any research and conclusions regarding this, but it may be the case that if you surround yourself with frugal people you will adopt their habits and likewise if you surround yourself with spendthrifts you will adopt their manner. That’s just my opinion.

Comment on Escaping Affluenza by hshareef

hshareef — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:45:26 +0000

“ I’m sure I gained my affluenza from my friends at school. I developed a desperate longing, a craving for material goods as I watched others enjoy their new toys that I wasn’t allowed to have. “
I find the above quote to be unfortunately true for most children these days. I wrote in my blog how I was raised in relative austerity but I was not exempt from yearning for toys other children were basking in. Often times we like to pin point an external factor as being the root cause of Affluenza whose eradication will instantly bring about deeply unmaterialistic human beings. Though corporate advertising and other such gimics no doubt exacerbate and perpetuate the disease, I believe that consumerism is heavily ingrained in the American culture now and extremely hard to avoid. I think negative peer pressure might be more dangerous than advertising because it is natural for human beings to want to feel accepted in their communities and thus they will feel more inclined to conform to the status quo.

“We continue to buy multitudes of products even though we don’t truly need them “
There is immense amount of truth in this. How many people have bought new laptops, ipods, cellphones, and any other gadget claiming that their old one was just that “old.” I almost fell into that trap. Upon coming to Wellesley I thought I should buy a laptop which to others might have been a good idea since I did not currently own one. The catch was that my sister was offering me her old laptop and I still wanted a new laptop. Eventually, I realized that there would be no real benefit from buying a new laptop and thus killed an insidious strand of affluenza.

Comment on queen bee affluenza by tanya

tanya — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:44:14 +0000

Oh I tread that same path. Retrospectively, I can almost understood why we hung out at the mall, but I will never be able to rationalize Limited Too. For me, it hit in elementary school, lived on through 6th grade, and was long dead by 7th. In it’s short reign of terror we were obsessed with camisoles, thought plastic-y pants were extra cool if you could change their length, and put glitter gloss everywhere. Unlike you, I didn’t actually technically consume that much. Oh I drank it all in, but sadly I lacked the funds to manifest my label-born dreams. Because of this I had a hard time in middle school, feeling like I didn’t fit in because I felt I had less than everyone else. I wish that, like you, I could say that compulsive spending died out in high school. In my school I feel like it worsened. Instead of Limited Too it became Marc Jacobs and Anthropologie. In high school we spent much much more. Gas, coffee, weed. We spent money on more things than just clothes and affluenza warped itself into a more mature form. My life today is not dominated by brands, I have somehow built up the ability to say no even when faced with a great sale price. Your post aptly pointed out how early and frantically affluenza gets us. I had almost repressed my memories of the Limited Too frenzy, but you’re right, in middle school affluenza got us good and that says some sad things about our society.

Comment on In Spite of Affluenza by kade304

kade304 — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:31:54 +0000

I find your post interesting for a number of reasons. To a large extent, I feel the same way about spending money. I don’t think it comes from the same source as your feelings, and more from the fact that in my childhood I had to buy mostly all of my luxury items myself, with my allowance, and so I always had to think really hard about what I wanted before I got it (which was usually helped by the fact that I needed to save up for it). After this upbringing, it has taken me some time to figure out how to responsibly spend money on the wider variety of things that I buy. (I almost said ‘need to buy’ there, and sometimes that’s true, but often it isn’t…) I would agree that this fear of spending is just as unhealthy as affluenza, since it can lead to the same end; instead of our possessions owning us, the purchasing paralysis does. In the end, I think the same thing that can help with affluenza can help here too. People need to be more aware of what they spend their money on, why they spend it, and what they actually get out of it. If they can do this for all (or most) of their purchases, I think that they will find themselves much happier with those purchases.

Comment on Can Government Control Desire? by MelanieK

MelanieK — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:46:52 +0000

I, too, find it especially interesting to consider the role of government intervention in the context of both affluenza and our country’s current financial situation. We live in a country that very much values capitalism and individualism. Many people are very wary of government intervention and its potential to “rob” the individual of rights and infringe upon our personal freedoms. With lingering Cold War-era taboos against communism and socialism, some people look very negatively upon the notion of government control. However, I believe that the government should hold the fundamental role of acting in the best interest of its citizens. In that context, the government should step in and enact programs that promote the overall well-being of the people. I agree that, in fighting against affluenza and strengthening our country’s economy, government action is necessary and has the potential to bring about a great deal of positive change.