kade304 March 9, 2009 at 11:46 pm
# One CommentI see it all around me—to a lesser extent in people I know, and to a much greater extent in the media—this pervasive image of wealth and expenditure, of the good life (it isn’t even the American Dream anymore). We see this vision of how other people live, and we come to believe that it [...]
hshareef March 9, 2009 at 10:42 pm
# No Comment YetMy austere upbringing as a child has left me completely repulsed by such lavish consumption as is manifest in much of American society. Not cleaning the dinner plate was an act of extreme ingratitude in my house. Television was eternally banned from our home, forcing my six other siblings and I to spend the [...]
heidi March 9, 2009 at 12:12 am
# 3 CommentsMiddle school—we’ve all been there. It’s a time when everyone wants to be the queen bee (even the queen bee). It’s a time when you spend all of your time keeping up with the latest trends. I feel like middle school is the time when affluenza (the compulsive need to “keep up with the Joneses” [...]
ellenwillis-norton March 8, 2009 at 11:49 pm
# 5 CommentsEllen Willis-Norton
3/6/9/09
Escaping Affluenza
The movie “Affluenza” attributes human’s overconsumption of materials to a corporation’s utilization of advertising. As shopping fever grew, not only were adults affected by growing materialism, but advertisers began to expand the market to children’s advertising. Children are now growing up with a materialistic mind set. The movie argues that “affluenza” forces both [...]
MelanieK March 8, 2009 at 11:47 pm
# 2 CommentsThe film Affluenza highlights the consumerism that characterizes so much of American society. Living in the midst of that society, each one of us is inherently influenced by its ideals and standards. For those of us raised within the context of American culture, consumption-based values unavoidably have shaped our perspective, worldview, and actions.
Watching Affluenza [...]
Rebecca March 8, 2009 at 9:48 pm
# No Comment YetIn the PBS video, “Affluenza“, eight symptoms were identified as affluenza indicators. Of the eight, two symptoms, “Material Girls & Boys” and “Fractured Families”, concerned the individual family specifically, placing a great weight on how families choose to raise their children. I agree with this emphasis. We are not born wanting the fastest car or [...]
laurenfink March 8, 2009 at 8:11 pm
# 4 CommentsI grew up with tons of stuff. I had more Barbie dolls than any of my friends, and when a hip new toy came out, I was one of the first in my school to get it. I was a huge brat, and I begged my parents for stuff all the time. I would sit [...]
cohara March 8, 2009 at 8:00 pm
# No Comment YetUpon visiting PBS’s “Escape from Affluenza” website (http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/escape/action/index.html), I found “100 Ways to Escape” (from Affluenza) and anticipated a super-liberal guide to plain living. I began with the “Crash Course,” a quick 10 step guide to a simpler life, and immediately was taken aback. Step One in avoiding a repulsive consumer lifestyle is to get [...]
llambert March 8, 2009 at 4:35 pm
# No Comment Yet
Watching Affluenza reminded me of my trip last year to Uganda. While I was there, I spent time at a slum community for children. The air was filled with the pungent smells of raw sewage and the high perspiration. The children wore the same dirty clothes daily; there was no proper sewage system and [...]
Rika March 8, 2009 at 2:10 pm
# No Comment YetEspecially after having lived in a capitalist society, many people in the United States have grown up with the idea that shopping is good and that we need to consume in order to prosper. I think in a sense, capitalism has trapped our society into a system of unfulfilled want. The way that [...]