Swine Flu Was Nothing

We've been reading Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic (2005) by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor. Admittedly, not the type of book we normally indulge in, our tastes running more to literary and speculative fiction. The book, however, is on the required reading list for a class we're teaching next semester, and it's a compelling--if not overly surprising--read.


The authors define "affluenza" as "a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more" (2). It will come as no surprise to Solipsist Nation that the US is gripped by an affluenza epidemic. Even YNSHC, generally unconcerned about "keeping up with the Joneses," discovered--after taking the "affluenza self-diagnosis test"--that he, too, is infected (albeit with a comparatively mild case). Our thoughts turn self-loathingly to the storage space we rent to hold all the unnecessary junk that we just can't summon up the will to sort through.


Although the authors have a bit of a fixation on leaf blowers as a symbol of excess--


(Digression: What do they think? That leaves are just going to blow themselves? EOD)


--the book itself is written engagingly. Chapter titles cleverly extend the metaphor of compulsive consumption as flu-like illness. The book was actually written as a sort of sequel or companion-piece to a PBS documentary, and the short chapters and breezy style convey the book's message nicely for a general audience.


We wondered, since the 2nd edition was published in 2005, before the financial apocalypse of the last couple of years, if the was still as relevant. Then we read this in today's paper:


"In [developing 3-D technology], television makers see an opportunity to persuade households that have already bought HDTV's to return to the electronics store. Though television sales jumped 17% percent in 2009, the industry needs new innovations to keep the cash register ringing." ("Television Begins a Push Into the 3rd Dimension")


We feel a chill coming on.

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Solipsistic Update

We introduce a new semi-regular feature: Solipsistic Updates. We'll look back at this date in Solipsist history and bring the Nation up to speed on where the year has brought us.

On January 6, 2009, we wrote "Not Just for Kittens Anymore," a relentless and penetrating look at the extravagances of Bernie Madoff. We were stunned to hear that Madoff had squandered his clients' hard-earned and cluelessly invested cash on such things as $200 mittens. Talk about affluenza!

Since then, of course, Madoff has been sentenced to a frankly sarcastic 150 years in jail. More importantly, we admit our short-sightedness: Who could have seen that Mitten Dynamics, Inc., would be the hottest growth stock of 2009? For dissuading Solipsist Nation from any thoughts of investing, we're very sorry. (NB: We predict big movement in the shawl market for the second quarter.)