Belinda Moore

I got a great library book this month. It’s and Australian gem called Affluenza: when too much is never enough, Clive Hamilton and Richard Denniss, Allen & Unwin 2005, ISBN 1-74114-671-2.

Affluenza is a condition arising from the common desire of our society to be more wealthy. The pursuit of financial success and consumption is valued more than happiness and health.
In this book which my husband and I are both reading, the authors conclude: “Since the early 1990s, Australia has been infected by affluenza, a growing and unhealthy preoccupation with money and material things. This illness is constantly reinforcing itself at both the individual and the social levels, constraining us to derive our identities and sense of place in the world through our consumption activity.” (p178) They argue that affluenza causes over-consumption, “luxury fever”, consumer debt, overwork, waste, and harm to the environment. These pressures lead to “psychological disorders, alienation and distress” (p179), causing people to “self-medicate with mood-altering drugs and excessive alcohol consumption” (p180).

They note that a number of Australians have reacted to the stresses of such lifestyles by “downshifting” — that is, they have made a decision to “reduce their incomes and place family, friends and contentment above money in determining their life goals” (p180). While Hamilton and Denniss recognise voluntary simplicity as a component of downshifting, they characterise downshifters in broader terms.

We’re finding it valuable to recognise the reasons living simply is sometimes difficult for us. We’re also discussing our goals and weighing up the amount of our time we need to sell for money (primarily my husband, who earns most of our income) to meet those goals.

For more information, see affluenza.org or seek out the doco from the US - Affluenza.