Affluenza

I think everyone should read this book, it captures the state of todays world perfectly - the need to keep up with the jones's and the debilitating stress we place upon ourselves as we try to live up to the ideals broadcast by the media and mass marketing campaigns. He uses his interviews with those stricken with the affluenza virus (as he calls it) to show how this disease has swept across the western world, poisoning our happiness in life - a brilliant book and a must read!!!

Members of Western Civilization have never had it so good. We are living in an age of affordable technology that has produced great comforts and entertainments. Advanced medicine has made our lives longer, safer and healthier. We travel the globe quickly and cheaply. If the success story of a society is measured by the speed of microchips it can produce, we have many accomplishments to be proud of, but if a successful society is also measured by the happiness and contentment of its people, Western Society is failing miserably. Studies show that in affluent societies rates of depression, anxiety, and emotional stress are rising all the while the missionaries of corporate consumerism infect the remaining unplugged masses of the third world. Oliver James refers to this epidemic as the Affluenza Virus. James reports on his results tracking the contamination levels of emotional distress through conducting psychological based interviews across the globe. His interviews are used to demonstrate and expand on results which studies have already shown, that the more a society values money and external success, the higher the rates of unhappiness. However, the potentially greater value in this work is that through the exploration of people's beliefs, goals, and values, the reader may be inspired to reflect on the level that he or she may be infected with Affluenza. This reflection may lead the reader to think about questions such as: Are the values and environments that are necessary for the success of corporations beneficial for improving the well-being of people? How do we define success in our own lives? How much is our definition of success based on goals surrounding our job performance, income or position? How much are our own personal identities and searches for well being linked with purchasing consumer products? In what ways our own goals similar to corporate ideology and mass marketed messages? Is it possible to have a society of relatively contented individuals who measure success not through competition to obtain more/better/different achievements, recognition and consumer products, but instead measure success through personal happiness and vitality, stimulated with wide ranges of outside-of-work interests and complimented with fulfilling, authentic, and intimate relationships? And finally, if you answer yes to this last question, are you currently living this way? And if not, instead of waiting for corporations to lead the way for you, or governments to make new laws, or other people to change, in what ways may it be possible for you to find a way to begin living this way from now on?

The topic is not new, of course not. Academics, intellectuals, "chosen ones" write about it all the time, usually in esoteric language. However, I have never encountered any work that suceeds so well in debunking and exposing the glossy hollowness of contemporary "success" and in explaining it so magnificently to the general public. Detractors can deny the essential message of the book all they wish. I have actually read some painfully simplistic interpretations of the authors's message, along the lines of "it is not true that all rich people are unhappy". Talk about superficiality and the effects of the Affluenza virus on a person's judgement and mental capacity. Those who posses an ounce of wisdom, be it stifled, tortured and opressed by the pressures of the Affluenza epidemic, will realize that the author does not talk about a linear relationship between wealth and happiness. The book is about how hollow, plasticky and meaningless we have become as a society, how we are all conditioned to keep our eyes on external prizes only while being encouraged to ignore the rewards that come with adopting humanistic values and with following our intrinsic motivations. In the end, this is what defines our humanity and sanity and this is exactly what we are losing by obsessively hunting "external prizes". More people than ever are becoming vacuous, high-performance machines with a human countenance. These can be poor people, middle-class people or already rich-as-heck people. What unites them is the obssession for "making it" in the eyes of the world at the expense of everything else. The evidence is right here, in front of our eyes, every day. The author does not need to bring any "further evidence", at least not of the type some critics histerically demand. Those who have eyes to see and soul to feel, will see and feel. The rest are probably not part of the "choir being preached to" anyway and sadly, will continue to live with the disease. What is really important is for those who have not yet completely succombed to this illness to get the vaccines before they waste their lives to nothingness.

I really enjoyed reading this book; I found it informative and entertaining. It provides you with a global view of affluenza. Anyone who is interested in global sociology would enjoy this book. The style in which this book is written makes you feel as though Oliver James is perched in the armchair opposite you, and you're having a conversation, about modern day society. As you read it , you nod your head and speak out loud words such as "really" and "wow, I never knew that, that's interesting" As a person who has spent far too much time and money shopping, reading this book has already saved me money. It helps the reader re-evaluate their spending habits back to a 1990's approach to "Do I really need this". In 2007, we live in a society where it's assumed that we are entitled to own all these things that really make no difference to our quality of life. As a consumer who has lived on both sides of the tracks I think James has a valid point. I mean really, I remember reading something once that said the only people who care about how expensive your car or jeans are the people who don't know you. That is so true. More books need to be written examining this issue. If you know anyone who is suffering from credit card debt, do them a favour buy him or her this book, it will help them to see their purchases in a different way. I'm glad this book was written. Well Done.

As someone who basically agrees with almost everything in this book, I am biased in its favour. On the other hand, one wonders whether it will only be "preaching to the converted" or maybe reduced to a conversation piece in middle-class circles. Psychologist Oliver James occasionally comes across as suffering from "affluenza" himself, a few too many references to his own success perhaps? But to be fair his style is also honest, self-effacing and funny in places. Someone in his well-connected position (a bit of a media figure, consultant to senior UK politicians and so on) writing a book like this has to be a good thing. It is surely better than no-one saying anything while people slowly drown in a sea of unchallenged, materialistic, individualism. The essential message deserves to be taken very very seriously. The author's focus is on why so many people in English-speaking countries (such as America, England, Australia but not so much New Zealand) are experiencing higher rates of personal unhappiness than they were 30 years ago. According to James, this is the result of placing a high value on money, possessions, physical and social appearances, and fame. By contrast, countries such as Denmark and Holland have a less selfish version of capitalism and so are generally happier. Along the way there are entertaining interviews, some interesting psychological insights, suggestions on parenthood, and analyses of different cultures. I found the section on China's economic development particularly interesting. There are three parts: The Virus, The Vaccines (basically some sensible self-help suggestions) and Wakey Wakey! In the last section James suggests a whole range of legislative measures such as having a system which selects leaders who are emotionally mature, and making housing property no longer a means of defining status. He calls for a genuine democracy that doesn't mean the rule of all by a rich minority. At one point James even goes so far as to question the necessity of economic growth and of course he is laughed at. Of course! My guess is that some will think this book doesn't go far enough and others will think it goes too far. All credit to Oliver James for writing it.