I found a wonderful idea that brings the global problems home to each of us.   

Climate Change seems almost to be a global Act of God - a natural event, not preventable by any human action - even though we know we have caused some global warming and have in place the Kyoto Agreement, etc.

Peak Oil describes the oil-based lifestyle as addictive - this idea goes beyond that. It’s more like we’ve all caught a psychiatric illness.

caught the bug?

Do you agree with any of the following statements?

- I would like to be a very wealthy person.
- I want luxury in my life.
- I often compare what I own with what others own.
- Shopping or thinking about what to buy preoccupies me greatly.
- I’m less concerned with what work I do than what I get for it.
- I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes.
- My life would be better if I owned certain things that I don’t have now.
- The things I own are an indication of how well I’m doing.
- I like to keep up with fashions in hair and clothing.
- I would like to hide signs of ageing.
- I would like to have people comment on how attractive I look.
- Possessions can be just as important as people.
- If a friend isn’t of use to me, personally or professionally, I usually end the friendship.
- I would like my name to be known by many people.
- I would like to be admired by many people.
- I would like my name to appear frequently in the media.

Diagnosis

If you answered “yes” to any of the questions above, then you have, like most people in the English-speaking capitalist-economy, go this ‘illness’. The more you answered “yes”, the more infected you are and the greater your likelihood of becoming emotionally distressed.

Affluenza Virus

Author Oliver James named it the “affluenza virus” and its symptoms are characterised by the “placing of a high value on money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame.”

“It results in an obsessive, envious keeping-up-with-the-Joneses state of mind that increases our vulnerability to emotional disorders, and is responsible for rising levels of depression, addiction, violence and anxiety in the developed world.”

He believes it is a contagious disease of the middle classes.

immunise yourself

A blog called “Sustainability Blog” written by Robert van de Walle says “I am recovering from Affluenza”. That’s how it has got to start - with a decision.  

Can one person’s decisions make any difference to the global capitalistic economy?

YES!

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 29th, 2008 at 9:00 am and is filed under Eco-News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.