One of the more serious distractors from a healthy reach.dabble.shine way of life is "a painful, contagious, virally transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more", or Affluenza - a movie and now a book that "examine the spiraling cycle of overconsumption, spending, stress, and broken relationships caused by America's obsession with uncontrolled economic growth at any cost."
When you've got creative juices log-jammed inside from self-doubt and self-loathing, one way to distract yourself is to literally buy-in to the clever marketing world's campaign to brainwash you into accumulating stuff to feel a temporary high, followed by an emptiness that prompts you to go out and try it again.
I'm guessing that if you're reading my blog, you probably already are on the side of the fence that extols what the book is saying, and I would be preaching to the choir about its virtues. When I went to my local library website -- of course not a bookstore! :~) -- to see if it was available and place a hold on it, there was this very intriguing review of the book on the "A Look Inside" tab:
In the world of truly silly books, this one takes the organic cake. Unfortunately, just as the authors want to make the case that Americans are being duped at every turn by sinister forces of crass consumerism and economic expansionism in a valueless, disposable society, the nonsense they themselves peddle will find a broad, sympathetic appeal among the uncritical, adoring eco-liberal public. Based on the 1997-98 two-part PBS series Affluenza and Escape from Affluenza, the book trots out every familiar shibboleth--Americans are shopaholics driving themselves into literal and ethical bankruptcy as they work themselves to death at the office in order to sit in traffic congestion in their SUVs to beat the Joneses to the mall so they can clutter their lives with useless stuff, while at the same time depleting the earth's resources, increasing its temperature, polluting its waters, and filling it up with garbage. That so many of the authors' claims are factually inaccurate or have been debunked by serious research is no deterrent. Thirty chapters take readers through a three-part, self-help program--the symptoms, causes, and treatment--to combat their obsession with consumption and material possessions. One good way to begin: Don't buy this book. Not recommended for academic collections.
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I suppose a public library is obligated to represent all views on a subject, but I've never come across something like this in its records. It makes me laugh. How far apart can two sides be on an issue, and I'm ever so curious as to what those "factual inaccuracies" are. A perfect example of reality being subjective.
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