How to cure the ills in our society

Oliver James is optimistic we can resist the spread of 'affluenza'. Picture: Tracey Adams

Oliver James is optimistic we can resist the spread of 'affluenza'. Picture: Tracey Adams

Published Mar 4, 2011

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Oliver James could sum up his book with a simple phrase: “The more like America a society becomes, the higher its rate of emotional distress.”

The British psychologist and author has diagnosed the United States and some other First World countries with what he terms affluenza: a “virus” caused by capitalism that turns ordinary humans into avaricious, anxious, jealous and competitive people.

The word describes the unease felt by many of us about how the modern obsession with money, possessions and appearance has become the guiding value of our age.

But how relevant is this thesis in a liberated South Africa? Just how much like America are we?

Certainly, some people believe that democracy has brought the blight of strip malls and junk food to our country, and that with fat plutocrats in charge the divide between rich and poor has become a yawning chasm.

We appear, then, to meet all the criteria for a nation in the grip of affluenza.

On the way to meet James I am tempted to comment on the irony of the venue: the Ambassador Hotel on the shores of wealthy Bantry Bay in Cape Town. But only a few minutes into our conversation his thoughtful, anti-materialist posture dispels any hint of the comic.

So what is this selfish capitalism that is clearly so disastrous for our mental well-being? It is, he tells me, an economic system “where the free market decides who is best in a survival of the fittest. It’s very much linked to evolutionary ideology. And, of course, we’ve seen by 2008 (the global financial meltdown) that this form of political economy is massively destructive to the well-being of the population.”

Proponents of this system claim that it leads to a “trickle-down” effect, benefitting the pockets of everyone rather than just the rich.

“Instead,” says James, “we’ve seen a waterfall-up effect; a massive transfer of wealth occurred from the middle and the bottom to the top sections of society.”

In Affluenza And The Selfish Capitalist, James chronicles his extensive travels across the world interviewing sufferers of affluenza and those who have apparently inoculated themselves against the virus.

The general impression is that most of Europe is untainted (countries such as Denmark serve as a lodestar for a sane society), while America, Canada and Britain, among others, are deeply infected. Symptoms include depression, anxiety and substance abuse.

James’s book is an eloquent and impassioned argument for what many of us think: the vitality of our culture and mental health is being reduced to a dim throb and our aggressively materialist values have something do to with it.

“You don’t have to be poor to have affluenza,” says James, and it is a sobering lesson for our developing country. Just turn on the television and listen to the static of imported American game-shows or see the advertisements that speak to our “wants” by shouting over our “needs”.

There is also a sense, and James feels it in America and elsewhere, that urging the population to “keep up with the Joneses” ultimately serves a social and political elite.

James has a simple solution to help fight the spread of the virus. ”Try to prioritise things that really interest you over things you’re motivated to do in pursuit of money, appearances and fame,” he says.

“Try to prioritise those feelings of freshness, spontaneity and absorption you feel when something really fascinates you. I’m not talking about being happy. I’m talking about the kind of state of mind I see when I look at my six-year old doing something which absorbs her: intrinsic motivation. She’s doing it for the sake of doing it. The goal is the same as playing.”

James is aware of the complications of this theory - the difficulty of applying it to a call-centre operative who has to field 450 complaints a day, for example - but he does believe it’s possible. “What I’m saying is kind of reactionary. It seems like I’m saying ‘be satisfied with what you’ve got’. And in many ways, that is what I am saying.”

It is heroic of him to even attempt to suggest ways to treat this global epidemic, and his advice seems easier said than done. It’s unclear what role competition should play in an ideal society, or whether some people, within the parameters of their soul-sucking jobs, actually have the power to fight affluenza.

The point, however, is well taken. Most of us can free ourselves from at least some of the delusions of consumerism. He does acknowledge that political reform is necessary to stem the tide: selfish capitalism needs docile and jealous subjects to feed its rich.

But James is optimistic, having encountered valiant pockets of resistance across the globe. He says there are groups of people who have refused to be dominated by American cultural impositions and economic imperialisms, and he describes Russian and Chinese cultures as “completely preserved”.

“Unlike their equivalent in New York, there is a sense of unease in China even though they’ve embraced consumerism,” says James. “At the same time there is a hankering for something profound. By no means were they buying into the nasty morality of selfish capitalism.”

He sees Denmark’s culture as one of “co-operation rather than competition” and says examples such as this make him optimistic about our ability to resist affluenza. He also believes that ecological catastrophe will force even the US to rethink its policies.

James’s fascinating book is humorous, insightful and anecdotal. He has placed capitalism on the psychologist’s couch and analysed its repressions and complexes. Whether or not you find his treatments convincing, it is impossible to deny he has found the source of our global stresses. - Weekend Argus

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