Surname 1

Name

Professor

Course

Date

Argumentative Essay On a Cure for Affluenza

Introduction

Today’s culture has been greatly affected by people who are disposed in material gain

and believe that wealth can help them do anything, which is the condition referred to as

affluenza. Throughout history, such people have been in existence and besides facing critics,

they have found their way up to the current day (James 123). Moreover, people affected by

this condition tend to have defense mechanisms that aid them to cover up their own actions

of gaining great developments through effort in an easy way. However, the culture is set to

such episodes of living where reliance on time to tell what should be used and at what time is

predominant, and people end up discarding items that are befitting for them but portray a

wrong message of who they think they are. This shows that the culture that people shaped

encourages affluenza, from day-to-day living standards but the condition is unconscious and

unnoticed by many. Besides, the condition is accompanied by many shortcomings which

impact greatly on the society and make people feel unequal (De Graaf, 224). The question

then remains is whether people want to live with affluenza regardless of its shortcomings, or

should they employ methods of reducing and even eradicating it? The method of coming
 Surname 2

back to senses and living in a sharing economy is effective in helping to cure affluenza but it

also has shortcomings including gluttony, un-contentedness, and consumerism.

Supporting Argument

Affluenza has a direct impact on a person’s senses and logic and therefore, changes

people perceptions of what they want and the reason they want it. Harper and Jones (140),

explains that people need to get it as a moral challenge of staying in line with the

expectations of humanity by being actively concerned in practicing in straightforward deals

that support ethical considerations expected of them by the society. This can then help in

making human beings have moral uprightness and make them consider the shortcomings

which are expected to accompany affluenza, including unanimity, consumerism and even

gluttony which can result in negative relations amongst people. Moreover, it is disappointing

to notice that what other people gain by struggling is might not end up helping them. An

example is a country that has citizens who work hard to raise their living standards but the

government introduces heavy taxes that deprive these people of their financial gains. In other

cases, the wealthy benefit from the poor through grafts and dishonesty means. This has been

the result of the rich feeling discontented by what they have, so they pursue to acquire what

they think they lack through their wealth influence or any dishonesty means. Such trends

make affluenza to systematically reoccur generation after the other. Thus, it is blatantly

apparent that people have been their own problems and main causes of societal problems, in

this case, affluenza. People are, therefore, the main channels through which solutions and

cure for affluenza can be found since they can obviously reduce or even eradicate the

condition if they want to (De Graaf, et al., 111).

 Surname 3

From a well though perspective of looking at nature, it is evident that people have

been the main enemies of nature development, by struggling to take all that they find worth a

positive gain to an individual and by using what nature provides freely, in exchange of

money or goods, thus creating an easy channel to riches (Gerhardt 1). Hence, besides the

efforts to cure affluenza, it is good to keep what already is there, so as to avoid what can be

brought that did not exist initially. Natural remedies, be they small or large need to be kept in

place and even stern regulations placed with repulsions in protecting the nature (De Graaf, et

al., 181). The results of preserving nature are quite fruitful keeping in mind that nature is the

main source of aesthetic beauty and value in society.

Counter-argument

On the contrary, civilization, a process of development in an urban setting and social

satisfaction based on culture and definite symbols of communication is still the main drive in

the current world (De Graaf et al., 125). People are supposed to get civilized more so, on the

part of satisfaction and stratification, which then enhance them to be contended in what they

have, and avoid using available commodities to benefit themselves in growing their social

class, as well as reducing gluttony in rich people who want to gain goods and services easily

without struggling or using any efforts as compared to the regular commoner (Hamilton,

p.1). This can then help to assist in promoting harmony between people of different social

classes thus fostering worldwide peace. A strategy of always getting contented in all that

people gain and taking it as an achievement, as well as avoiding easy gain of material

possessions can be another major approach, which can be encouraged to be practiced by

people trying to play a major role in making sure that affluenza has been eradicated. This can
 Surname 4

effectively aid in changing people’s perception of social class and material gain, resulting in

evident ethical approaches to the systematic acquisition of goods and services.

Conclusion

In summation, people need to come back to their own senses and internalize the side

effects of their desires to acquire property easily in the so-called ‘legal means’ as rich people

suffering from affluenza condition, try to justify themselves on their actions. They should

thus stow themselves in their own hands and compare both the weights of staying in the side

of consumerism and the side of learning and gaining from experience with employed efforts

of gaining what they later want to refer to as ‘theirs’. Through playing as role models in the

current generation, the subsequent generation will copy from what would have been done

and try to expand and work on the strategies that would have so far been employed in dealing

with and eradicating the unworthy condition of affluenza. More researches should thus be

encouraged so as to find more possible stratagems and cures of dealing with the condition of

staying at a comfort zone, and try to gain access to goods and services increasingly so as to

gain higher social and economic statuses. Critics should focus more on such people to instill

responsibility and try to bring ethical practices into practice.

 Surname 5

Works Cited

De Graaf, John, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor. Affluenza: How Overconsumption Is

Killing Us--and How to Fight Back. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2014.

De Graaf, John. "Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic." Environmental Management

and Health 13.2 (2002): 224-224.

Gerhardt, Sue. "The selfish society." how we all love one another and made money instead,

Simon & Schuster, London (2010).

Hamilton, Clive. Affluenz: When Too Much Is Never Enough. ReadHowYouWant.com,

2009.

Harper, Ian, and Eric Jones. "Treating ‘Affluenza’: The Moral Challenge of Affluence."

Christian Theology and Market Economics (2008): 146.

James, Oliver. The selfish capitalist: origins of affluenza. Random House, 2008.