{"id":15482,"date":"2001-11-06T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2001-11-06T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482///wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//www.yesmagazine.org/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//magazine-article/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//affluenzas-nothing-new-the-disease-that-ails-america/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//"},"modified":"2019-11-26T01:31:15","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T09:31:15","slug":"affluenza","status":"publish","type":"magazine-article","link":"https:/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482///wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//www.yesmagazine.org/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//issue/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//love-save-world/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//2001/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//11/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//06/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482//affluenza","title":{"rendered":"Affluenza/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/u2019s Nothing New: The Disease That Ails America"},"content":{"rendered":"/wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

Sometimes a book is so good it gets made into a movie. This time, the movie—a hit documentary on PBS from 1997—got made into a book. As usual, the book is even better./wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

Affluenza documents the extent to which we are under assault—and shows us that we are not powerless./wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

Affluenza, the film, began life on TV as a one-hour guided tour of America’s disastrous love affair with shopping. The film was sassy, snappy, and smart. It made you laugh, even as it filled your consciousness with the horrible realization that there was ample data to back up that sneaking intuition that our culture had fallen ill and could croak at any minute./wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

The trouble? Overconsumption. We work more, to earn more, to spend more, and the spending has reached dangerously gargantuan proportions. We’re shopping ourselves to death./wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

Affluenza, written by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor, is a terrifying tale, something like “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” but without any creepy aliens to blame. Many people’s waking hours are almost wholly dedicated to getting and spending, as though the Sale of the Century had become the meaning of life. And we’re increasingly impoverished by this obsession with wealth./wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

Oddly, reading such horror stories can be a great pleasure. Affluenza lays out the symptoms, the causes, and (gratefully) the cure. With wit, intelligence, and pizzazz, this trio of authors has brought together a complete guide to the disease that most ails America. Proof of having read the book should be a requirement for opening a charge account, applying for a boat loan, or running a large corporation./wp-json/wp/v2/magazine-article/15482/n

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