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Title: Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor, David Horsey, Scott Simon, John de Graaf ISBN: 1-57675-199-6 Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Pub Pub. Date: August, 2002 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.22 (55 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An enjoyable, informative wake-up call.
Comment: I enjoyed reading this book quite a bit, but I was saddened to see just how materialistic American society has become. The average American household carries over $7000 in credit card debt. My question is "What the HECK are they buying and WHY do they need itso badly that they would go into debt for it?" I was brought up to only buy things you need and can afford - what was everyone else teaching their children? Money doesn't buy happiness, but the average person doesn't seem to know that. Or, if they do, they don't know quite how to stop the rampant consumerism from ruling their lives. I didn't realize exactly how much of a burden our consumer society is on the planet until I read this book. The authors did a fabulous job of exposing the facts about our economic conditions while making the book entertaining at the same time. There's even a quiz to help you see how badly you are infected with the Affluenza bug. A great read, especially if you borrow it from the library!
Rating: 5
Summary: A Book to Read Again and Again
Comment: It's hard sometimes to live a simple life surrounded by "affluenza" and its effects. So for me, the book "Affluenza" has been really helpful in reminding me what's important in my life - it's not the "stuff." It's my life that I value. It's not all that's advertised to make me hungry for what I don't want. It's remembering what I do want in my life, and prioritizing that above those tantalizing baubles that are offered over and over again to deplete my bank account - to put me in debt - to put me in slavery to my possessions.
So, thank the authors for writing this important book that reminds me again and again who I am and why I have chosen to step back from all the glitter and acquisition. It reminds me why I work a 30 hour week, instead of a 40 hour week, and why I even hope to pare that down to a 25 hour week - so that the rest of my time can be spent on my life!
I like it that "Affluenza" isn't preachy or grim. It's light and humorous. It's fast-paced, like a television program - only without commercials. It's stock full of information about how we got to this place where money and things outweigh time with our families and time volunteering to make our communities stronger. And it gives examples and ideas about how to move forward into a place where each of us can get out of debt, and shift our priorities to what we truly value in this life that we only get to live one time.
David Horsey's cartoons are right on the money. They're witty and apt. The writing is visual and well-paced. Can you tell - I like this book! And it couldn't have come at a better time. A lot of us need to see its message. As for me, it's one of those books that I'll keep around to refer to when I feel particularly plagued by the lure of keeping up with any Joneses.
Rating: 5
Summary: "Fast Food Nation" for the shop-'til-you-drop set
Comment: Although it's been some months since I finished "Affluenza," the book has stayed with me (and hasn't at the same time: I've loaned it to many appreciative friends). One of its most significant effects was helping me achieve what no financial planning book before it had: for the first time in the decade since leaving college, I've completely paid off my credit card debt. How did "Affluenza" help me do that? Well, if you read "Fast Food Nation" and thought you'd never want another to eat another Quarter Pounder again, you'll be able to relate; what Schlosser does for McDonald's, De Graff and Co. do for the mall. In a clear, straightforward fashion, "Affluenza" looks at the paralyzing effects the fever to consume brings upon us and offers simple strategies to start curbing the disease at its core -- even if that's just by forcing you to ask yourself, "Do I really need this?" before your next purchase.
Contrary to some of the reviews, I didn't find the book to be preachy or pedantic; actually, it was the book's common sense approach to the suffocating realities of our consumer society that made it so easy, in the months that followed finishing the book, to start spending sensibly, when at all. Armed with a new skepticism as to whether happiness was just one more swipe of the credit card away, I was able to put items back, turn deals down, and walk away with my money still in my pocket -- never once regretting the decision NOT to buy, in marked contrast to the many times I felt a hollow dread after dragging home another piece of crap to take its place atop the heap of crap bought before it (just like the book's cover).
If you're a person for whom happiness is carrying a plethora of brightly-colored shopping bags to your car on a Saturday afternoon, this may not be the book for you. If, however, you've noticed that you're drowning in stuff but no closer to the shore of contentment, this book can inject a little sanity into our otherwise credit-crazy world. I'm not promising it will get you out of credit card debt -- but it just might attack your drive to spend at its roots and give you a little more breathing room -- which, for less than $13, is a bargain you just can't pass up, don't you think?
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Title: Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser ISBN: 0060938455 Publisher: HarperCollins Pub. Date: 08 January, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need by Juliet B. Schor ISBN: 0060977582 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich ISBN: 0805063897 Publisher: Owl Books Pub. Date: 01 May, 2002 List Price(USD): $13.00 |
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Title: Reefer Madness: Sex, Drugs, and Cheap Labor in the American Black Market by Eric Schlosser ISBN: 0618334661 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 08 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Fat Land : How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World by Greg Critser ISBN: 0618164723 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co Pub. Date: 14 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.00 |
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