The curse of Affluenza suggests that increased personal wealth isn't making us happier. What's going wrong?
It's often said that money can't buy you happiness. Indeed, according to a new book, too much wealth frequently leads to sadness and disappointment.
There is a massive downside to our embracing of dog-eat-dog consumerism, as revealed in my latest read, Affluenza: How to Be Successful and Stay Sane by clinical psychologist Oliver James. (By the way, if you apply for an Amazon credit card and make a purchase on it, then you get a £15 Amazon gift certificate which will pay for this book with £4.21 left over.)
The simple premise of Affluenza is that while societies are getting richer and richer, simultaneously individuals are becoming less and less happy. What's more, the Affluenza Virus is spreading around the world as more and more nations take up consumer capitalism, particularly in English-speaking societies.
Routinely comparing yourself and your possessions to those around you is often referred to as 'keeping up with the Joneses'. Alas, these days, it's not enough for us merely to keep up with those bothersome Joneses -- we feel that we have to beat them by being better off and more successful.
In his travels around the world, which took up most of 2004, Oliver James discovered that a worldwide surge in material affluence, coupled with the demands of 21st Century living, appears to increase our vulnerability to emotional distress. Thus, in societies where people place a high value on acquiring money and 'designer' brands, looking good in the eyes of others, and wanting to be famous, the incidence of anxiety, depression, personality disorder and substance abuse is high.
To help you to get to grips with the affects of Affluenza, here's the test with which Oliver James opens his book (answer each question 'Yes' or 'No'):
1. I would like to be a very wealthy person.
2. I would like to have my name known by many people.
3. I would like to successfully hide the signs of ageing.
4. I would like to be admired by many people.
5. I would like to have people comment often about how attractive I look.
6. I like to keep up with fashions in hair and clothing.
7. I would like to have my name appear frequently in the media.
8. I often compare what I own with what others own.
9. Possessions can be just as important as people.
10. Shopping or thinking about what to buy greatly preoccupies me.
11. If a friend can't help me to get ahead in life, I usually end the friendship.
12. I'm less concerned with what work I do than with what I get for it.
13. I admire people who own expensive homes, cars and clothes.
14. My life would be a lot better if I owned certain things I don't have now.
15. The things I will own will say a lot about how well I've done in life.
16. I want a lot of luxury in my life.
How did you get on? I only answered 'Yes' to questions 1, 2, 4 and 7, and screamed 'No' to the remaining twelve questions! I said 'Yes' to 2, 4 and 7 because I need to maintain my profile as a writer.
And yes, I admit, I do want to be well-off, but not for reasons linked to the Affluenza Virus. I aim to increase my personal wealth in order to improve my family security. Then I can be confident about keeping the wolf from the door when times are hard.
I've always been wary of being seduced by money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame. To me, the global obsession with goods and status, particularly in the Western world, amounts to the very opposite of happiness. Measuring ourselves and others using the values of 'selfish capitalism' is bound to lead to dissatisfaction and, ultimately, unhappiness.
Anyway, reading this book set me thinking about three financial trends that I believe are intimately linked to an epidemic of Affluenza in the UK.
The first is our mania for housing and our faith in ever-rising house prices. Although I'm happy to admit that I'm a tenant, having sold my family home two years ago, homeowners seem to look down on the three in ten people (30% of the population) who don't own property.
Second, instead of scrimping and saving to pay for consumer goods and treats, as our parents and grandparents did, we Brits have turned our backs on saving. What was once seen as a virtue is now viewed as so last century. The result of this social change is that the savings ratio -- the proportion of our disposable income which we save -- has halved over the last decade and is now just 5% (one pound in every twenty).
Third, in order to support our rampant urge to splurge, we now spend far more than we earn, which forces us to rely on credit to make up the shortfall. Hence, our non-mortgage debt exceeds £213 billion, or over £8,500 for each of the UK's 25 million households. Having been buried under a mountain of debt before, I steer clear of debt today -- something which adds to my personal happiness.
It's not clear to me whether these trends are symptoms or underlying causes of Affluenza, but they are echoed around the world, wherever conspicuous consumption and selfish capitalism have taken hold.
Thus, with a large proportion of the developed world hooked on easy credit, cheap imported goods and low interest rates, we are being haunted by envy and greed. Clearly, high living standards don't automatically translate into greater mental well-being -- although they do produce longer life expectancy, reduced infant mortality and less disease.
Oliver James has come up with a number of suggestions to help us to build immunity to the Affluenza Virus. I won't reveal them all here, but they include:
- follow an occupation which you enjoy (becoming a writer in 2002 was one of my best life decisions, as was starting my own business in 2005);
- consume only what you need, not what advertisers pressure you to buy;
- don't become fixated with celebrity culture and glossy magazines;
- don't take on a massive mortgage and thus end up on a lifelong treadmill from which you cannot
dismount; and - spend time with your family, friends and young children, as strong relationships create far more
happiness than mere material possessions.
Good luck with beating the Affluenza Virus, if you're fallen victim to it!