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Affluenza{{/B}} For many people, economic growth and an increase in possessions are signs of progress, but for anti-consumer groups overconsumption and materialism are sicknesses. A recent Public Broadcasting Service coined the term affluenza, which describes consumption of material goods in a strongly negative way. Af-flu-en-za (noun) combines two words: affluence and fluenza. According to anti-consumer and environmental fights organizations, the high consumption life stiles of affluence cause people to be less happy even though they are acquiring more "things". The major negative effect on the environment is that overconsumption is depleting the world's natural resources, anti-consumer groups argue. Furthermore, the groups observe that an artificial. Ongoing and insatiable quest for things and the money to buy them has replaced the normal desire for an adequate supply of life's necessities, community life, a stable family, and healthy relationships. For example, today's families are replacing items much more frequently than in the past. Many Americans now treat clothing as "disposable", discarding clothes when fashion changes, and creating a boom in thrift stores and yard sales. The U. S. A.'s largest export is now used clothes. About 2.5 million tons of unfashionable old clothes' and rags are sold to Third World countries every year. |