Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us—and How to Fight Back, Edition 3
Apr 2022 · Berrett-Koehler Publishers
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About this ebook
A "witty yet hard-hitting" look at the symptoms, causes, and cures for America's addiction to buying more stuff ( Library Journal).
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED
affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.
We tried to warn you! The 2008 economic collapse proved how resilient and dangerous affluenza can be. Now in its third edition, this book can safely be called prophetic in showing how problems ranging from loneliness, endless working hours, and family conflict to rising debt, environmental pollution, and rampant commercialism are all symptoms of this global plague.
The new edition traces the role overconsumption played in the Great Recession, discusses new ways to measure social health and success (such as the Gross Domestic Happiness index), and offers policy recommendations to make our society more simplicity-friendly. The underlying message isn't to stop buying—it's to remember, always, that the best things in life aren't things.
"It is not a book that shakes a finger in our faces and reprimands hardworking Americans for wanting a little more comfort, elegance, and enjoyment... it creates something of real value—a new way of accounting for true happiness in our lives." —Scott Simon, Weekend Edition host, NPR
" Affluenza is a sober indictment of the excesses and sheer waste in our increasingly consumer-oriented society. We would all be well served to read the book and pass it on to relatives, friends, and neighbors in the hopes of creating a great public conversation around how to eradicate the affluenza pandemic." —Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Third Industrial Revolution
NEW EDITION, REVISED AND UPDATED
affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.
We tried to warn you! The 2008 economic collapse proved how resilient and dangerous affluenza can be. Now in its third edition, this book can safely be called prophetic in showing how problems ranging from loneliness, endless working hours, and family conflict to rising debt, environmental pollution, and rampant commercialism are all symptoms of this global plague.
The new edition traces the role overconsumption played in the Great Recession, discusses new ways to measure social health and success (such as the Gross Domestic Happiness index), and offers policy recommendations to make our society more simplicity-friendly. The underlying message isn't to stop buying—it's to remember, always, that the best things in life aren't things.
"It is not a book that shakes a finger in our faces and reprimands hardworking Americans for wanting a little more comfort, elegance, and enjoyment... it creates something of real value—a new way of accounting for true happiness in our lives." —Scott Simon, Weekend Edition host, NPR
" Affluenza is a sober indictment of the excesses and sheer waste in our increasingly consumer-oriented society. We would all be well served to read the book and pass it on to relatives, friends, and neighbors in the hopes of creating a great public conversation around how to eradicate the affluenza pandemic." —Jeremy Rifkin, author of The Third Industrial Revolution
Ratings and reviews
3.8
5 reviews
Austin Karren
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March 11, 2019
If you were to believe everything that this book tries to teach you it would destroy the rule of law and capitalism. They even make the point that those with wealth often use it to better the lives of others around them all while preaching taking it away from them and establishing socialism as a standard for American living. They hate high prices and consumerism but preach the Keynesian economic policy of demand side economics that got us there in the first place. They have no proven or real solutions to Affluenza and they even admit that they don't know how their policy would affect society.
1 person found this review helpful
Ting
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June 18, 2018
Must read
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
John de Graaf is an independent documentary producer who is the recipient of more than 100 awards for filmmaking, including three Emmy awards. He is currently active in the Happiness Initiative (www.happycounts.org) and is an advisor to the prime minister of Bhutan.
David Wann is the author of ten books on sustainable lifestyles and designs and the producer of twenty-five documentaries, several of them award winners. He codesigned the cohousing neighborhood he lives in and coordinates the community garden.
Thomas H. Naylor is a professor emeritus of economics at Duke University and is the author of over thirty books.
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