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Essay 2

Nowadays, more and more people are discussing the closely linked things about Affluenza. There are a lot of factors which make this kind of disease bigger and severer. Who or what is the culprit and which group of people is most significantly affected by the culprit have become a controversy. Some people claim that the main reason is that of today’s adults are too serious to money and they are also the primary victim of Affluenza, others assert that the most fundamental reason is there are a lot of businesses and corporations are hyping the market, so the majority of the consumers are influenced by Affluenza. From my perspective, the governments’ failure to manage the Affluenza is the primary factor that leading to the expansion of the Affluenza. The most affected groups are children who are physically and mentally immature.

The governments not only have some profit relationships with some corporations, but also cooperate with some companies to make Affluenza bigger. Take examples from chapter14 and 16, “It’s fascinating to watch the many corporate and government films produces during that period, both documenting and extolling the new mass consumption society.” (Affluenza page 133)“Government agencies are supposed to be watch dogs, but too often they are more like lap dogs.——JOHN STAUBER founder of PRWatch”. (Affluenza, page 147)These evidences fully prove that the government is collaborating with some companies for something they want. The film produced by the government and the company is a direct encouragement to Affluenza. It praises and supports the spread of Affluenza from an official point of view. Not only does it have no control measures, but it also strengthens the promotion of this excessive consumption. I can be sure that the fact is that there must be some kind of exchange of interests or business contacts between government agencies and these companies. Their cooperation is one of the most direct reasons to encourage people to become infected with Affluenza and make Affluenza more powerful. John Stauber compared two different forms of the current state of the government agencies, watchdogs and lap dogs, which are very different. The former is an incarnation of righteousness and justice, while the latter is more like a sycophant. John Stauber's vivid image shows that today's government agencies have not fulfilled their supervisory responsibilities. On the contrary, the current government agencies seem to prefer to benefit from flattering and good-mouthed speeches, so that they can take their own pockets, ignore the overall social situation, and will not even consider Affluenza brings tremendous impact and negative trauma to people. Nowadays, the government has a tendency to encourage Affluenza to gain its own interests instead of focusing on the future and not grasping the overall situation. I think this is incorrect and the government should be able to control the situation within the normal range.

Market values are influencing family values, children always feel boring and nothing to do, both of these phenomena are due to the fact of Affluenza. According to the chapter 4, “today’s kids are terribly overscheduled, as “market values have invaded the family””(Affluenza page 43), “The Christmas toys tossed aside in his brother’s bedroom. Both boys complained to John that they had nothing to do.”(Affluenza page 45) These two examples illustrate that children's lives are severely affected by market values, and that children in cities often think that they have nothing to do even if they already have a lot of exciting toys and things they can do. It is not a good thing that children’s schedules are too compact. It is a tragedy to spend such a stressful time in childhood. I think that children should have their own rest time. Even if parents or teachers plan the children’s schedule, they should also reasonably allocate when they should study, when they should relax, and they should not be eager for immediate gains and hurries, if they are too pursuit of children's cultivation，it often backfires. The reason why children in urban areas increasingly feel that they have nothing to do is primarily that they have already adapted to the life of many toys. They think that this is all right because they will continue to acquire new toys, but when toys can no longer satisfy their desires, they will begin to do nothing. Hard to be satisfied is a terrible phenomenon. Children's innate creativity and imagination have disappeared under the influence of Affluenza. Instead, they only want endless, fresh and fun toys. Parents’ guidance also causes most of the children's problems, and this also reflects the parents’ poisoning of Affluenza and affects the education policy for their children. These phenomena all reflect the huge negative impact of Affluenza on the new generation.

Affluenza lead everyone have the impulse to consume, so there are more and more advertisements come up with Affluenza which affect children deeply. For instance, “Marketing to children has become the hottest trend in the advertising world.” (Affluenza, page 45) “A child may see a million of them before he or she reaches the age of twenty.” (Affluenza page 140) The two sentences in the article directly pointed out that the current advertising market is apparently targeted for children. This phenomenon may be the result of market research. It may be the behavior of targeted profiteering. In short, this trend is not conducive to the growth of a new generation. The first part of this book has examples to show that advertising is a kind of deception in a sense. If advertising targets spearheaded children with immature children, the consequences would be unthinkable. These children will be affected by advertising and grow up. The advertising culture will also erode their mind. Children may become exaggerated, may become uncreative, and even worse, may be easily convinced. According to the book, “That passage, written 169 years ago, accurately describes much of modern advertising, which, indeed, stimulates “imaginary appetites,”and consistently uses sex, fear, and personal anxieties to sell products.” This text even highlights the ugly purpose of advertising. In order to sell products and seek benefits, advertisers will use various means to allow you to purchase their products and generate the desire to purchase goods. Advertising will directly stimulate people's inner fictional desires from the perspective of psychology, so as to achieve the final purchase of products. Advertising has the significance and value of existence, but it is also one of the root causes of the continuous expansion of Affluenza.

The government has so far not had any action against Affluenza but has colluded businesses for personal gain. The values of the market have seriously affected family values. Under the over-performing advertising, children have become the most prominent victims. Through the analysis of the above examples, I think that government agencies need to do something to protect our children. Children must stay awake under the guidance of parents and can no longer be brainwashed by advertisements and videos to become victims of Affluenza. Let's stop the Affluenza together.

Work cited

De, Graaf John., Thomas H. Naylor, and David Wann. Affluenza: The All-consuming Epidemic. San Francisco: Berret-Koehler, 2005. Print.