tbr

affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.

Description from back cover:

“Based on two highly acclaimed PBS documentaries, Affluenza uses the metaphor of disease to tackle a very serious subject: the damage done--to our health, our families, our communities, and our environment--by the obsessive quest for material gain. The authors show that problems like loneliness, rising debt, longer working hours, environmental pollution, family conflict and rampant commercialism are actually symptoms caused by the same “disease”: affluenza.

Affluenza presents the symptoms--stress of excess, family convulsions, dilated pupils, resource exhaustion--along with their historical and cultural origins. Most importantly, the book explores causes and cures, such as the ‘new frugality’ and ‘voluntary simplicity’ movements, and suggests strategies for rebuilding families and communities and for restoring and respecting the earth.

Affluenza takes a hard look at a complex and serious issue, revealing ways of living and working that make more sense and are, ultimately, more satisfying. After all, the best things in life aren’t things.”

Received in today's mailbox...thank you sgscarcliff! Have been wanting to read this one ever since I found out that this PBS-show-based book was published. Have been following the simplicity movement for a few years now, and I'm always looking for different aspects of the theory-into-practice.

update 2/8/04: Here is the final list for the bookring...
avanta7 (Little Rock, AR)
gnissorckoob (Miami, FL)
philomom (Decatur, GA)
salinger007 (Spartanburg, NC)
jarrett622 (Barren Springs, VA)
sugarkane (Washington, DC)
luvs2sewtjr (Greencastle, PA)
Libby2 (Omaha, NE)
abs (Berkeley, CA)
sgscarcliff (San Francisco, CA)

The following people also wanted to be included; perhaps, if the book holds up, and sgscarcliff wants to circulate it again, they may get a second chance:
PokPok
fsr44
symphonicca
grover3d
fanclub

My thoughts:

To say that this book is resource-laden (just the 8 1/2-page bibliography was enough to make even my eyes glaze over) would be an understatement. However, if it is ever republished, I hope that the authors will include the web resources cited within (not that I’m incapable of googling for myself).

I’ve been interested in and done my own research on living simply, increasing spirituality into my daily life, staying out of debt, etc. I’ve found that many of the books “out there” either repeat each other, or they don’t give the reader any original ideas one can’t learn if they’ve ever been poor or on an otherwise restricted budget. Affluenza kept my attention and earned my respect [I am so hard on my reading material!] because of the fact-finding presented within. Another recommendation for this book is the thoroughness of the scope--many books will give short shrift to the symptoms and cause and focus mainly on treatment. The “handy tips” books have their place--after an honest assessment of how people have gotten into their respective messes.

I took the diagnostic and scored a 28. While I’m “infected,” I’m not unhappy with the results--I consider myself borderline (a few things could be worked on, but there’s no cause for panic). There are several unasked questions that I feel would give an even better indicator of wellness (for example, ask me how long I’ve been driving my car, or how I keep my book budget under control, or my lack of “girl it up” expenses).

Given that the presidential election is looming, and Bush just sent his budget to Congress, I want to start hearing about how the other candidates would clean up his mess. I want to start figuring out which companies to boycott and which ones to invest in. This movement may be grassroots, but it desperately needs to move up into a national consciousness, or we’re all f’n doomed.

Quotes and notes:

“Life is not worth living if we exercise our profession only for the sake of material success and do not find our calling an inner necessity and a meaning that transcends the mere earning of money, a meaning which gives our life dignity and strength.” (William Ropke)

“The individual who finds no opportunity for self-chosen, meaningful expression of inner resources and personality suffers an insatiable longing for things to happen. The external world is to supply those events to fill the emptiness.” (Ernest van der Haag)

“People need identity, community, challenge, acknowledgment, love, and joy. To try to fill these needs with material things is to set up an unquenchable appetite for false solutions to real and never-satisfied problems.” (Donella Meadows)

“The more real wealth we have--such as friends, skills, libraries, wilderness, and afternoon naps--the less money we need in order to be happy.”

“A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.” (Aldo Leopold)

Reading/Media List:

To Have or To Be? Erich Fromm
Running Out of Time (film)
Bowling Alone Robert D. Putnam
Graceful Simplicity Jerome Segal
Getting a Life Jacqueline Blix
Coming Back to Life Joanna Macy
Beyond Ecophobia David Sobel
Adbusters (magazine)
Reinvention of Work Matthew Fox
Trust Us, We’re Experts Sheldon Rampton

http://www.newdream.org
http://www.pbs.org/kcts/affluenza/home.html

I'm emailing a few other people to give them a first shot at getting on the bookring before I post it to the forums.

Released on Monday, March 01, 2004 at ... by mail :) in Sent to a fellow BookCrosser, Bookring Controlled Releases.

Finally on its way to the first person in the ring.

Received in the mail today.

You know, it never fails. I'll go weeks, even months, without a bookray showing up, and then BAM! Multiples show up in the same week. This is #2 this week, so it's vaulted not quite to the apex of Mt. TBR, and will be read and passed on just as soon as humanly possible.

Score on the affluenza diagnostic test: embarrassingly high. Even allowing for the "close" answers, which were scored at one point instead of two, I still scored in the high 70's. Which isn't news to me, actually. I know I like stuff, and shopping, and browsing, and many other aspects of our consumer culture. I don't necessarily feel much guilt about it either.

But.

In the past year, I have frequently lamented the dearth of good public transportation in this community. Little Rock was just rated as the 2nd worst city in the nation for an asthmatic or allergic person to live (I'm allergic). Money and stuff are frequent topics of sometimes heated conversations between spouse and me. And we have often commented on the mercenary natures and name-brand name dropping of our two young nephews. All of these seemingly unrelated facts are signs of a growing awareness of my own affluenza symptoms.

Baby steps toward a cure have been initiated. I've started composting. The harder part will be to convince spouse to make an effort to recycle. And other measures may be taken in the future, if I can wean myself from time sinks like the internet and Law & Order.

I didn't intend this journal entry to become more about me than about the book. However, it serves to demonstrate the power of the message contained within Affluenza's covers.

Thank you for sharing this, marinaw. I'm glad I read it.

Mailed to gnissorckoob today. Enjoy!

Thanks for sending it, avanta. I had never heard of Affluenza until sgscarcliff PMed me about this bookring. This is definitely a topic I'm interested in. As much as I dislike materialism, I sense it creeping into my lifestyle. So maybe this book will wake me up. I've only read the Foreword and haven't gotten to the quiz yet. More later.

Excellent book that needs stay in circulation. I have already bought a copy for a friend, and probably will buy more as a contribution to our society (or is that too affluenza-like?). I liked Affuenza so much that I forgave it for over-extending the virus metaphor way past its prime.

Somewhere in the introduction it says that the book does not try tell us anything new, but is just to help us stay aware of what is all around us. I think this is exactly what we all need: perspective in "the age of consumption."

Here is my favorite quote (from Arnold Toynbee): The measure of a civilization's growth is its ability to shift energy and attention from the material side to the spiritual and aesthetic and cultural and artistic side.

By the way, my score on the quiz was 27. I do think it would have been lower 5 years ago, so I may be going in the wrong direction.

6/07/04 -- mailed it to philomom in Decatur GA. By the way, I spilled a little water on the cover. It's just water!

Gosh, I've read half of it already. Even a thrifty person like me can be interested in the avoidance of affluenza. Thanks. This goes to salinger007 when I'm done.

I liked it. I learned a good deal that I suspected but did not know for sure. I took the test in the back and only got a 16. So I'm not suffering Affluenza, but I will stay vigilant for it. I already buy most of my clothes at second hand stores and buy new stuff only when its unavoidable. I do hike and garden and stay in touch with nature and I make my kids come along, too.
This book will be on its way to salinger007 shortly.

Released on Friday, June 18, 2004 at sent in the mail to a fellow bookcrosser in Decatur, Georgia USA.

Gone to South Carolina.

Sorry all!! I have had this book for 3 days and I am just now journaling. I have certainly been enjoying it. I scored 30 on the test, and this book is really making me reevaluate my priorities. I hope to finish it this weekend and having moving on Monday. Thanks Marinaw for sharing this one!

Thanks again for sharing this one. I really enjoyed it. Its on its way to Jarrett622 in Va.

Holy cow! I thought I journaled this book! So sorry! I received 5 books on the same day and this was the one that got lost in the shuffle...

I'm finished with it BTW and will be sending it on as soon as I have an address.

One word sums up this books content: Scary.

This book has arrived. I suspect it's been here for a while, but I just now found it because it was buried under, ahem, clutter. Sorry about that. I will be finishing a couple of bookring books on my upcoming week of vacation. When I come back I'll be in the mood for a stern polemic after all that light reading, so this will be perfect.

This book didn't teach me a ton of new things, but it did inspire me to stop and take stock. It helped me shake off faint feelings of being a loser for hardly ever watching TV, and it made me glad that since I joined BC my book budget is a fraction of what it used to be. It reminded me, on the other hand, that I really need to cut down on driving and start taking the train to work more often, since I have that option. It also made me realize that I need to spend a lot more time outside and a lot less time tethered to the Internet (in that way BC is both a blessing and a curse).

My test score was a 32, more for laziness about getting outside, recycling, and volunteering than for active overspending: I'm one of those weirdos who hate to shop.

The most valuable chapter for me by far was Chapter 6, Family Convulsions, because it spoke to my own situation and because it suggests some common ground for the political left and right in making the world a better place. Here's a quote from the director of a "conservative family-support organization in South Carolina" about "the new homelessness": "We have people living in houses with one another but not connecting with one another. Dad is on the Internet. Mom's upstairs watching a movie on the VCR. The kids are downstairs playing video games. Everybody is connected to something outside the home even though they are physically within the home. The pressure that materialism is bringing to bear on the American family today is woefully underestimated but it is critically important." There's a lot of good stuff from former Reagan administration official Edward Luttwak too, which reminds me that I really want to read his book Turbocapitalism.

The middle section on the history of consumerism from prehistory to the year 2000 was great too, with lots of philosophical background.

This was mailed out today to luv2sewtjr.

This just came in the mail today. I'm looking forward to reading this as I have seen it discussed on the frugality forum I belong to.

Thanks for starting this ring.

Well, I have officially bailed on this book. I read the first 75 pages or so and then skimmed the rest. I did take the test and scored a 13, so I don't feel too terribly bad about not finishing.

The anecdotes in this book got a little repetitive for me. I have belonged to a frugality website for 5 years so I've read many personal stories that were very similar.

The only chapter that really fired me up was the one called Dilated Pupils. I really detest the amount of advertising targeted towards children. I am always trying to educate my children about advertising, and it is not easy sometimes.

Thanks for including me in this ring. I'll be mailing the book out as soon as I get the next participant's address.

Arrived in today's mail. Have held off starting a new book for a while now in anticipation of this book's arrival! I'll start it right away - thanks for starting this bookring,sqscarcliff. I look forward to reading and journaling again.

Well, I read this book (most of it anyway), in fits and starts - picking it up at random moments and reading a chapter now and then. I took the test and graded at borderline - minimally infected. This was no surprise as I have always recycled, used what I had unntil it broke and valued people and living creatures over "things". As a nature artist, I feel my paintings are my way of getting people to stop awhile, slow down, be in nature and really "see" and appreciate the natural world around them. My mission as an artist is to "wake people up" to the beauty and fragility of the world around us. So, many ideas in this book were not new to me - but I still learned more by reading it. This book deserves a larger readership, but I am afraid the people who need it most, will never read it - they are running a mile a minute, working non-stop to buy the latest, newest "whatever" out there. No time to read for them - I've seen them in action - I know them. Thanks, sgscarcliff and marinaw for circulating this informative book, I admire your generous spirits! To be sent to abs next.

Mailed by media-mail on Thursday, Nov. 18th 2004 to the next reader in the ring, "abs" in California. ENJOY!

Just received this in the mail! Thank you! I am looking forward to reading this!

FINALLY! I have finished the book. I realize that a grievous bookcrossing sin has been committed- by me! I am so sorry that I took so long to finish the book. I did find it to be a great book to read. I even felt hopeful by the end of the book, that maybe the course of destruction that our world seems to be on may be changed.
Thank you for sharing this book.
By the way, it is still in good condition.

Perfect timing! Arrived yesterday, when the book I was reading was boring the crap out of me. I started it immediately and am thoroughly enjoying it already.

I scored a 16 on the affluenza test, so I'm not doing too badly. I really enjoyed the first part of the book (the symptoms of Affluenza) but I thought it lost steam later on and became repetitive. The section on "how to treat" affluenza largely just pointed you to other books. I thought the authors could have done a better job of giving some concrete steps.
I'll send this off just as soon as I receive the next addy.

Sending to symphonicca this week.

Yahoo! Just caught this well-travelled book in my mailbox--- thanks fsr44. I am just finishing the current bookring in my possession, "Wicked", so this is a pleasant case of perfect timing!!

I imagine my reading this book will be a little bit preaching-to-the-converted (have been a bit of an unencumbered nomad for some time now), but looking forward to it all the same. Will journal more once I have gotten into it.

As a pretty consistent simple live-er, I liked this book, but more for the message and the importance of what they were saying than for how they said it and the conprehensiveness of their message.

I agree with previous journalers that the ending began to lose steam, and they didn't do a great job of laying out concrete steps to combat affluenza. Plus, I have to say that they beat that 'inflenza/affluenza' allegory to death! :) Okay--- I get it. It is like a sickness, and it is an epidemic. I agree, and I do get it. Honestly. Really. No REALLY. I felt like they found themselves incredibly clever to have come up with the comparison, and so tried to squeeze every last nuance out of the metaphor. Blech.

All of this is not to say, however, that I didn't enjoy reading the book, or that its message is any less profound because of these style issues. I found the 'symptoms' section interesting, though I had heard much of it before (perhaps because this book was written 5 years ago?). I think a lot of people need to read that part to understand exactly what is going on when they 'choose' to buy without thought or consciousness.

I think the 'cure' section was what was really important, though, and I found myself feeling more energized and excited about simple living. Like I said above, I REALLY wish they had spent more time on this section, particularly because this book will no doubt be preaching to many of the converted (I would be surprised if a whole lot of people stricken with affluenza would pick this book up--- so cater to those whom you already have on board and get them better armed to combat the 'disease').

I am very glad I finally got a chance to read this book, and thank marinaw for starting this ray!!! I have PMed grover3d, and am waiting for their address. Hope the next reader enjoys this book as much as I! :)

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October 22--- still no word from grover3d--- have PMed fanclub to see if they would like to read it!

Came in today's mail. I am almost finished with my current book, so this is on deck! :D

There are certain kinds of books I just shouldn't be allowed to read. They make me despondent. This was that kind of book in certain parts. However, I found some hope in the back, and I found enough useful information within to help me out of my stupor. I scored a borderline 25 on the affluenza self-diagnostic in the back, which is rather lower than I thought I might be. I have been "meaning to" for such a long while now that I was kinda embarassed by myself. I agree with the above comment that a later edition of this book should include web resources, just to save us the Google work. I will pass this book on at my local BC gathering this weekend and it should continue on its journey from there.

Incidentally, one of my favorite quotes from the book was chosen more out of my feelings for certain politicians who shall remain nameless than its application to affluenza:

"David Dunning, a professor of psychology at Cornell, demonstrated that people who do things poorly usually appear more confident and self-assured than those who do things well. 'Not only do they reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices,' wrote Dunning, 'but their incompetence robs them of the ability to realize it."

*12/4/05: Because sgscarcliff has obtained another copy of this book, I am taking it to my montly BookCrossing gathering to share. *Update: passed off to dustyflint.

Received ages ago at TOC meeting and finally read! Stuff Stuff Stuff - and a fairly scary score on that quiz. Good read.

RELEASE NOTES: