Affluenza is an Antique Problem - Essay Example

Affluenza Introduction Affluenza is an antique problem that traces its roots into the fore fathers of the human populace.According to the Christian, Jewish and Islamic doctrines, Adam and Eve were the initiators of the problem of affluenza. These doctrines implicate that Adam and Eve still pursued to possess additional possession regardless of the abundance in the garden. Therefore, this is an apparent indication that the problem of affluenza has a rich history in human life. Greed is a major constituent of Affluenza, since individuals persistently possess a materialistic mindset. However, the exaggerated possessions initiate negative ramifications in society. it amounts to health hazards, economic stagnation, environmental pollution, amongst others. Evidently, this is an ancient social problem that requires remedies. Johnson is an anthropologist who conducted a study in a hunting and gathering society called Machiguenga. According to his findings, the society enjoys more merit than the modernized society. The people of this society practice subsistence, and they are content with the resources that are at their disposal. They are never in a hurry, and they are much cohesive in their inter-personal relationships. Different philosophers such as Aristotle, Jesus Christ, Jerome Segal, amongst others assert that more possessions bring more struggles than having enough. Affluenza definitely brings much decadence to the society. Affluenza is a persistent social problem that has four major solutions. Change in the education system is a solution to affluenza. Children in schools ought to benefit from a curriculum that tackles the concept of affluenza. Implementation of this strategy will induce knowledge to the children regarding the social problem. For instance, environmental science classes would be paramount towards the students. It would inculcate conservation and preservative skills for the natural resources such as vegetation and the hydrological cycle. In this case, children would spend more time in outdoor engagements due to the natural adventures in the environment. They would refrain from anti-social tendencies that attribute to indoor confinements such as watching television and playing video games. Children would not seek to please their parents for junk food rewards. Excessive consumption is a key mannerism that manifests amongst the affluent individuals. Academic adjustments in schools would offer profound recommendations against affluenza. Consequently, children will achieve awareness about the ramifications of affluenza. The knowledge system would also inculcate a change in parent’s lifestyle. Parents would not have to invest immensely on snacks and soft drinks. Therefore, the parents’ culture of overconsumption would take a diminishing trend. Evidently, the curriculum adjustments towards environmental science in schools would be an outstanding remedy for affluenza. The government has a major role in curbing affluenza. It would do this through its strict regulations to protect the natural environment. Social vices such as pollution, resource exploitation, and recycle issues would be effectively tackled. Affluenza entails a materialistic mindset in an existent population. People are pre-occupied by the persistent ambition to attain more possessions. Factory owners therefore focus on maximizing production and profits. They do not have a major consideration towards the environment. In an affluent society, factories pollute the environment due to their materialistic mindset. Manufacturing industries also exploit natural resources. They do not implement recycling techniques. Such business entities have no regard towards the ramification of depletion. In this scenario, massive consumption and material possession are the applied principles. The government ought to implement clear-cut policies that oversee the preservation of all resources. Violation of the policies ought to attract legal consequences on the offenders. Legal limitations of advertisement ought to be implemented by the government. The government ought to formulate and implement high taxes for the advertisements oriented to affluenza. It would also implement strict policies that would punish the advertisers that advocate for overconsumption. These legal moves will prevent the children and parents from excessive consumption. As denoted previously, affluenza entails a persistent form of greed within a society. The individuals in society practice an exaggerated ambition to attain material possessions. In this case, both production and consumption take an elevated trend. Advertisers in an affluent society perceive parents and children as prospective sources of income. In this case, humanity is highly compromised due to the materialistic mindsets. Therefore, advertisers do not offer health recommendations for their products. They purely entice the parents and children to increasingly consume their products. Due to their will to possess, parents and children consume the products massively. This context requires implementation of limits through strict policies and high taxes. Through this strategy, the government curbs the manipulative affiliation amongst advertisers and consumers. Overconsumption comes to a culmination due to the legal measures. The government and citizens have a duty to minimize expenditure. Affluenza entails massive trends of economic expenditure. Both the government and the citizens spend excessively. Upon analysis, consumption rates in an affluent society are extremely high. Minimized expenditure has an ultimate outcome of minimal debts. Minimal expenditure by the government propagates settlement of debts. In the contrary, massive expenditure attracts incurring debts by the government. In this case, the society is vulnerable of economic strains due to the numerous debts incurred by the regime. Massive expenditure also has a negative ramification to the economy of a nation. Subtraction of savings in an economic cycle is a prediction of ultimate economic recession. This is because the economic system majorly entails withdrawal of funds. Two thirds of the American middle-income earners save less than 5% of their aggregate annual income. An approximate of a quarter of the American population saves nothing for retirement. In this case, banks and the government ought to create incentives that propagate saving. This would be through subsidizing saving charges, and implementing rewards for the saved amounts. This strategy would facilitate minimal expenditure in society. Therefore, minimization of expenditure by the government and individuals would be a remedy to affluenza. Conclusion Adherence of the recommended steps would bring a significant change in a country within ten to fifteen years. The new academic curriculum endorsing environmental science would propagate healthy life shifts by parents and children. Children would manifest an adjusted psychological development due to the outdoor engagements. Strict regulations by the government would oversee natural resource conservation. The strict regulations and elevated taxes would also culminate inhuman advertisement that amounts to overconsumption. Government and bank rewards would ensure improved rates of saving. This would reduce extreme expenditure substantially. However, the nation will suffer from scarcity due to the minimized expenditure. Scarcity would also attribute to the low customer turnout brought by the rational advertising. Customers will minimize usage of particular commodities after the consideration of their ramifications. Work cited De, Graaf J, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor. Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2005. Read More