The film “Affluenza” has a direct connection to the health of the environment / natural ecosystem by revealing the forces which have dramatically transformed he United states from a nation that believed in plain living and high thinking into the ultimate consumer society. We have more stuff, less time and our quality of life seems to be deteriorating. This film addresses the symptoms of the materialistic self-satisfying disease of affluenza. First as a feeling unfulfillment and I discontent which is a result from efforts to keep up with the Jones’s. Second as an epidemic of stress, waste, overwork, and indebt ness caused by dogged pursuit of the American Dream. Thirdly, Affluenza is described as an unsustainable addiction of economic growth. The effects of this disease have a direct impact on our families, other countries, and the environment.
Affluenza affects our families because we misplace our time priorities. Instead of nurturing and investing our time in our families, we work more to buy more stuff. We must then ask ourselves, is this stuff really worth more than out children. The film gave the viewers an example of our fractured families. We tend to spend more time shopping as consumers than we spend with our children as parents.
Affluenza is a global infection as well as a fracture on our families. According to the film, one fifth of the world’s people live in absolute poverty. As Americans it is nearly impossible to envision what poverty is and even more difficult to realize why there is poverty at all since we Americans have everything at our fingertips. The film points out that since the 1950’s, residents of the United States have used more resources than all people who have lived on earth before them. The film also informs its viewers that each American uses twenty tons of resources a year.
Affluenza affects our families, other counties, and our environment. People, especially in developed countries use up a lot of the earth’s resources, resulting in over consumption and over population. The use of the earth’s resources results in the production of waste. Through the consumption of resources we see our forests being torn down to make more goods to be consumed. We see how these goods, in turn, pollute the air. Goods like our cars, aerosol strays, pesticides, toxic chemicals, and other products that we humans use in order to make our lives more comfortable. What we don’t realize though is the worst part. We neglect the fact that the production of these life-simplifying products actually may be making our lives more difficult and harmful.
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