Affluenza

This is the first of two chapters to consider the disastrous environmental consequences of affluenza. The issue is clearly formulated by a pair of engineers interviewed by the authors about the subject. According to Mathis Wackernagel and William Rees, if you divide the area of biologically-productive land and sea by the number of human beings on earth, you get 5.5 acres of raw natural resources per capita (79). The trouble is that each person presently uses an average of more than 7 acres. In other words, our ecological footprint at the moment exceeds the capacity of the planet by nearly 25%. Despite these dire figures, oil and gas companies continue to invest in ecologically inefficient energy sources like the Alberta, Canada tar sands, which require four tons of sand and four barrels of fresh water to produce just one barrel of oil (76-77).

For the authors, this information clearly demonstrates the unsustainable character of affluenza. They predict a not-so-distant future in which environmental catastrophes exacerbated by climate change accompany resource scarcity and attendant political instability. One example they discuss is the interesting case of copper, a mineral integral to the operation of renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power. Copper is an inexpensive material that is becoming increasingly difficult and costly to extract. This significantly raises the barrier to the widespread adoption of wind and solar energy, the very measure needed to ameliorate our environmental situation. The scenario is similar for rarer elements (neodymium, lanthanum, cerium) required for hybrid and electric vehicles. The process of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy will thus generate competition and conflict between nations over limited resources. 97% of rare earth metals, the authors note, are now controlled by China, which surely plans to use its monopoly for geo-political gain.

The challenges associated with rolling back the environmental effects of affluenza are daunting. According to the authors, more of us need to respond like the activists Tim DeChristopher and DC McKibben, who have risked arrest through numerous acts of nonviolent civil disobedience aimed at raising awareness about climate change. Time is running out on our “careless consumer culture” (86); it is up to each of us to break the cycle of indifference and stop the catastrophic consequences of affluenza for the planet.  

The second of two chapters on the environmental hazards of affluenza, the “industrial diarrhea” referred to is the chemicals from everyday consumer products. Though most of us assume that manufacturers and government regulators take the trouble of analyzing food and household products for dangerous toxins, the authors show that the vast majority of common commercial chemicals are untested for cancer-causing agents (88). According to data from the American Lung Association, as many as 40 million Americans may be allergic to building compounds in their homes, a staggering number that translates to the spread of chronic diseases like asthma (89). Similarly, the authors list a number of artificial chemicals and toxins that pass through sewage treatment facilities into our water supplies: everything from trace amounts of pharmaceuticals to caffeine, all of which profoundly affect the ecosystem (91). Moreover, the rise of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture has produced a net increase in the use of pesticides as pests and weeds become resistant (93).

The result is that more and more chemicals are entering the environment than ever before. According to Theo Colburn, the author of Our Stolen Future, the toxic by-products of affluenza are causing bizarre mutations and behaviors in animals, such as alligators with stunted sex organs and eagles who do not nest or care for their young (92). Businesses and consumers alike have therefore failed to adequately account for the creeping, long-terms effects of processed and artificial substances upon the natural world.   

This concluding chapter of Part 1 offers a summary argument about the negative emotional and spiritual effects of affluenza. The “cancerous” nature of our culture is evinced by our reliance on pharmaceuticals and medications to solve every problem that ails us: pills for sleep, sex, diet, mood, and so on. Despite its strong economic health as measured by GDP (gross domestic product), the United States does not fare well compared to other nations in terms of other metrics like suicide rates, per capita doctors, life expectancy, carbon dioxide emissions, obesity and infant mortality. For the authors, these statistics indicate a troubling disparity between the material wealth of the US and the “real wealth” of its citizens determined by factors “such as friends, skills, libraries, wilderness, and afternoon naps” (100).

The argument of the authors is further illustrated by their appeal to the theory of a hierarchy of needs developed by the sociologist Abraham Maslow. According to Maslow, the highest human need, the one from which we derive the deepest fulfillment, is self-actualization; that is, “becoming all we can be, doing what we are ‘born to do’” (101). Based on the data cited earlier in the chapter, the authors seriously doubt that most Americans are reaching this level of happiness and purpose in their lives. They demand “a cultural revolution, a social tsunami,” whereby the United States beats its addiction to affluenza and its deleterious consequences (104).

A promising example is provided by a shift in Japanese culture during the 18th century, a time of material scarcity in which an ethic of mottainai, or non-wasteful gratitude and respect, prevailed (100). A similar change in thinking needs to happen in the United States and its emulators throughout the globe—the future of the human species and the planet as a whole depends on it.