Before the Ethan Couch case in 2013, it was hard to believe that the term "affluenza" was even a legitimate term. In fact, by the time Couch's psychologist attributed his four counts of intoxication manslaughter to affluenza, the word had already secured a place in the lexicon. According to Merriam-Webster, yes, affluence does exist . There are two definitions:
A. Guilt, lack of motivation and social isolation experienced by wealthy people
b. Extreme materialism and consumerism associated with the pursuit of wealth and success, leading to chronic dissatisfaction, debt, overwork, stress and damaged relationships
Affluenza gained notoriety in 2001 with the publication of the anti-consumerist book Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic . This book, written by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas H. Naylor, defines affluenza better than Merriam Sr. disgusting.
A painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste caused by the obsessive pursuit of more
Even before that, in 1997, psychologist Oliver James described a "virus" that he believed had swept through the United States, and you didn't need to be rich to feel its strain. In his book Britain on the Sofa , he explains the epidemic in the West:
Advanced capitalism makes money from misery and dissatisfaction, as if it encourages us to fill spiritual emptiness with material wealth
Later in 2007, he published the book Affluenza: How to Succeed and Stay Sane . James believes the flu affects the way we judge our appearance and measure our happiness. We scrutinize our attractiveness and how young or old we look. We seek internal peace by acquiring external products. Our culture is all about solving problems quickly. It seems you don't need to be rich to feel this rage.
Whichever definition is most accurate, affluenza does not elicit sympathy or pity for its “victims.” Instead, it creates disgust at the way individuals avoid responsibility, blaming external factors before reflecting on the way they choose to live. If the flu was indeed a pandemic, a product of our consumerist society, then it would have made its mark on everyone in some way. The point is, we all feel it, and we all choose how to deal with it.
It is shocking that a 16-year-old boy would consider being diagnosed with the flu during a court trial, while experiencing some of the stress that other 16-year-old boys experience. In a sense, “affluenza” is synonymous with millennials’ addiction to technology. For example, sometimes when we are used to having the internet at our fingertips, it becomes difficult to take pleasure in the simple things in life. Does this mean that a teenager who killed someone while texting in a car should blame his actions on this generation's obsession with technology?
The Huffington Post published an article about a teen who was convicted of more serious intoxication manslaughter than Couch. They include a 16-year-old illegal immigrant who is being tried as an adult for killing a mother and her unborn child in a drunken driving accident. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. His defense experts did not attribute his recklessness to the difficulties immigrants face having to assimilate into American culture and the United States' not always welcoming attitude toward immigrants. If courts choose this different path of using a theory as a scapegoat, they will have to be more thorough. The flu may be an epidemic, but it's not an excuse, and neither are any external circumstances.
