Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic (Bk Currents)

Although it's been some months since I finished "Affluenza," the book has stayed with me (and hasn't at the same time: I've loaned it to many appreciative friends). One of its most significant effects was helping me achieve what no financial planning book before it had: for the first time in the decade since leaving college, I've completely paid off my credit card debt. How did "Affluenza" help me do that? Well, if you... Read Full Review

Sure, I've heard about the disappearing rainforests and the many species of animals and plants becoming endangered or extinct, but that doesn't really have anything to do with me, I live in America, the most affluent country in the history of the world. Yes, there are some problems with industrial pollution and other environmental issues but not in my community and besides that's the concern of all those 'environmentalists.'... Read Full Review

It's hard sometimes to live a simple life surrounded by "affluenza" and its effects. So for me, the book "Affluenza" has been really helpful in reminding me what's important in my life - it's not the "stuff." It's my life that I value. It's not all that's advertised to make me hungry for what I don't want. It's remembering what I do want in my life, and prioritizing that above those tantalizing baubles that are offered... Read Full Review

What I like best about Affluenza is its' groundedness in the familiar icons and rites of American culture. It critiques and lampoons many of our foibles,frustrations, flaws, and white-hot flashes of brilliance. With great, often humorous bedside manner and expert grasp of its' subject over consumption -- it takes the temperature and pulse of our daily lives to make a troubling diagnosis: individually and collectively, our... Read Full Review

This book, which builds on the 1996 PBS documentary AFFLUENZA! and its 1998 sequel ESCAPE FROM AFFLUENZA, provides an easy-to-read, yet hard-hitting look at the plague of over-consumption sweeping America and the rest of the world. The authors provide examples of the vicious cycle of emptiness, greed, and destruction of community and social bonds created by the American obsession with unrestrained economic growth. Non-partisan... Read Full Review