The new epidemic: Affluenza. . . .

I've been waiting for literally three months for a PBS documentary called Affluenza to become available at my local library. I think when I placed my hold on it, there were 46 people ahead of me! Needless to say, I had totally forgotten about it when I read a post on WiseBread with a link to the documentary on YouTube!

The piece is about 10 years old, which isn't really a problem because the comments about American consumerism still hold true today. Note that in one of the segments, gas is shown at $1.28 a gallon!!! Wow. The most disturbing part, I think, is a segment in which a Disney marketing guru talks about 'owning' and 'branding' children----so they'll buy Disney products rather than some other company's plastic, throwaway toy. Basically, this documentary is a commentary on the U.S. 'earn and spend' mentality, how we got here, and what the consequences will be for our economy and our environment. I also own the book, which I promise to review at some point in the near-ish future.

The documentary has been divided into six parts on the YouTube site, probably because the entire video would have been too long to post. I've created links to each of the six parts:

Affluenza: Part 1 of 6
Affluenza: Part 2 of 6
Affluenza: Part 3 of 6
Affluenza: Part 4 of 6
Affluenza: Part 5 of 6
Affluenza: Part 6 of 6

Snarky note: Ted Haggard, of the New Life Church in Colorado is also briefly featured, talking about how to have a successful marriage/family life: he's the big-time pastor who was accused of homosexual relations with a gay man.