Amidst the product placement, the shiny stadiums and Adrian Chiles arsing around on a beach, clips depicting deprivation and destitution have occasionally punctured the opulence of the World Cup’s coverage. The momentary flashes of the faces of the favelas hint at the abject poverty that arises when LEDCs such as Brazil sacrifice those at the bottom of the social scale in order to compete in the MEDC capitalist global market.
‘It’s a tragedy’, we all lament, as we wipe the tears off of our iPad screens. A nation indolent, not inspired. Perhaps we would think twice if the undesirable effects of capitalism were more obvious in our own society. Clearly their current manifestation in the below-living-wages of our vital workers, or the unsustainable gentrification of urban communities, or the uncontested tax breaks given to the City elite has not made Britons reconsider their relationship with ‘affordable luxuries’. But what if the dangers transcended the homes of the underprivileged and pervaded the box-fresh and branded lives of the white middle classes? Then might we lay down our labels and take notice?
Affluenza: a psychological malaise supposedly affecting the young and wealthy, symptoms of which include a lack of responsibility, feelings of jealousy, and a sense of isolation. British psychologist Oliver James, who coined the term, stresses the correlation between the increasing nature of affluenza and the resulting increase in material inequality: the more unequal a society, the greater the unhappiness of its citizens. It is this ‘condition’ (not actually recognised by the World Health Organisation) that allowed 18 year old Texan, Ethan Couch, to escape imprisonment after killing four people whilst driving under the influence. Couch, his lawyers pleaded, could not be blamed for his actions, as he was a product of his entitled environment, which taught him to prioritise the pursuit of material happiness above all else. The incident, which was preceded by Couch stealing alcohol, as well as his father’s car, was a result of his attempt to replicate the lifestyle epitomized by the ‘winners’ of capitalism, such as ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ Jordan Belfort. Gary Miller, the psychologist hired by the defence, claimed that “the teen never learned to say that you’re sorry if you hurt someone. If you hurt someone, you sent him money”. Couch, whose father owns a $15 million metal company, was sent instead to a luxury rehabilitation centre in California, as suggested by his attorney, of which he has to pay only $1100 a month for a facility which costs $750 a day.
Whether or not you think a black teenager from a single parent family, who did not have a handy $132,000 to spare for a 10 year residence in The Newport Academy, would have gotten off so lightly is an important but separate matter; the irresponsible pursuit of the American Dream – which is no longer popularised merely by politicians, but is advertised in the lavish wealth and lack of work exemplified in every mainstream music video and reality television programme – has resulted in the loss of life.
A equally troubling case of twisted privilege is that of Elliot Rodger, dramatically dubbed ‘the virgin killer’, who killed six people and severely injured two more after uploading a string of Youtube videos speculating why, despite his wealth and good looks, he was still unpopular with girls. The videos, which primarily present the 22 year old driving around California in his BMW, drinking Starbucks lattes, follow a similar theme to his online ‘manifesto’ in which he states “as I saw all of these successful young men with their beautiful dates [at the premiere of ‘The Hunger Games’, for which his father was assistant director], I became even more convinced about how important money and status was in attaining a desirable life of love and sex”. Misogyny and mental illness have, quite rightly, also been attributed to the murders that took place on the 23rd May 2014, but it is clear that Rodger’s unshakeable assurance that personal affluence should lead to pleasure and popularity – and the vindictive jealousy that erupted when it did not – played a part.
Our own obsession with money and the material has veered into the realms of the unsustainable. The promotion of ‘selfish capitalism’, which James defines as the market liberal political governance found in English-speaking nations, has resulted in our prioritization of perceived wants over genuine needs. What’s more, we think we are entitled to this eventual excess of wealth. It is this fatal combination of ruthless pursuit and ignorant privilege that should leave the middle classes quaking in their king size beds; how long until Britain produces its own Couch or Rodger?
However, that is not the deadliest consequence of this ‘illness of affluence’. Oh no, the most noxious element in the pollutant gas that is ‘affluenza’ is the smokescreen it creates. For whilst the British bourgeois finally wakes up and smells the not-so-fair trade coffee, the true victims of ‘affluenza’ remain ignored. The rise of the socialite-sociopath is alarming, but more-so when it supersedes the far crueller effects of capitalism that dominate the lives of the exploited underclasses, who will never get a taste of the bittersweet American Dream.
The Sixth Form Journal 
well it doesn’t look like communism helps either.