Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is Killing Us—and How to Fight Back

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

© 2014 Berrett-Koehler Publishers (Ebook): 9781609949297

Release date

Ebook: 3 February 2014