Some people call it “affluenza,” that nagging, sick feeling that comes when the greed bug bites. And the symptoms are easy to spot: Do those toys you woulda died for before Christmas seem dead boring now? Would your new clothes look better if you only had more items to go with ’em? Too busy envying that PlayStation or mountain bike your best bud just got to enjoy your own cool stuff?
Answer “yes” to any of these and it may be time for a reality check. But if you can’t shake the feeling that you’ll never get enough stuff, you’re not alone. Countless adults battle the same problem – and it’s much harder for kids to fight off the material urge today than it was even a generation ago.
“Years ago, if it wasn’t in the community newspaper, you probably didn’t desire it,” says Bennett Leventhal, a child psychiatrist with the University of Chicago. “Now, the magazine from Paris has the same expensive things that are available at the local Wal-Mart or Target. Everybody can do it. You see the same goods mass-marketed everywhere. `Sony Walkman’ is a universal term.”
Another big change, Leventhal adds, is that “there’s almost no place you can go to escape from advertising. Let’s say you were hiking with someone in the wilds of Montana. You probably couldn’t avoid looking at the Adidas logo on their shoes or the L.L. Bean logo on their backpack.”
It’s not just the amount of advertising, but the message behind it. “Craving is in vogue,” says Phillip Vischer, founder of Big Idea Productions and a creator of the “VeggieTales” cartoons. “The breakfast cereal Honeycomb has a new mascot called `Craver.’… Sprite’s new line is `Obey your thirst.’ White Castle is `What you crave!’ The message to kids is simple: You need it. You want it. You won’t be happy until you have it. We sell things by trying to get people to lose control of their impulses.”
It was materialism that inspired VeggieTales co-creator Mike Nawrocki to write the funny and clever “Madame Blueberry” episode. Even though Madame Blueberry has a great treehouse full of possessions, she is miserable. Then a Stuff-Mart opens down the street, and Madame Blueberry goes on a marathon shopping binge to cure her blues. She buys so much stuff her treehouse can’t hold it all.
What can kids do about materialism? One thing is to take a cue from adults who have joined something called the simplicity movement. The basic motto of simplicity groups like the New American Dream (www.newdream.org) in Tacoma Park, Md., is “more fun, less stuff.” Adults in the movement have learned that it’s better to take time to enjoy the stuff you have than waste all your time chasing after more and more stuff.
“Balancing is also important,” Leventhal says. “You can get pleasure by sharing what you have with other people.”
We asked two of our Scoop Troopers to weigh in on “affluenza.” Here’s what they had to say:
–Madeline J., 13, of Chicago: “Too many kids are caught up in the race to get the latest and the greatest stuff, especially when it comes to clothes. But just this past Christmas, I was feeling pretty left out when I realized that all my friends had gotten lots of expensive clothes from the Tommy Hilfiger store, Abercrombie and Fitch and places like that.
“No matter how many possessions you have or how cool they are, they won’t keep you happy forever. … I think that for once, kids should just step back, look at their lives, and realize how much they actually have to be thankful for.”
–Jay B., 13, of Chicago: “I have a lot of video games, both for N64 and Game Boy. The last game I bought with my own money was Pokemon for Game Boy. I got it three weeks ago, even though I just got Zelda 64 and NFL Blitz for Christmas. You can never have too many games! I wanted Zelda 64 for two months, and I kept nagging my mom for it. But you always find something else you want. It’s not like I didn’t like it-I just got bored of it after a short time and looked for a new challenge.
“Our parents seem to give us more stuff than they had. Maybe we should try to appreciate the things we have forever – like our family and friends – and not always be asking for toys and gifts. If all my favorite possessions were taken away, I would still enjoy lying in bed daydreaming and playing with my kitten, Patches.”
A WORLD OF STUFF
(UNITED STATES)
(family of 4)
5 telephones
4 bicycles
3 motor vehicles
3 televisions
3 stereos
3 radios
2 easy chairs
1 microwave oven
1 computer
1 VCR
(JAPAN)
(family of 4)
3 bicycles
3 radios
1 telephone
1 television
1 microwave oven
1 motor vehicle
1 computer
1 VCR
(CUBA)
(family of 9)
4 bicycles
3 television
2 stereos
3 radios
1 VCR
(ALBANIA)
(family of 6)
6 goats
2 butter churns
1 donkey
1 television
1 radio
MONGOLIA
(family of 6)
1 television
1 sheep
1 statue of Buddha
(MALI)
(family of 11)
5 ceramic pots
2 water kettles
2 sieves for sifting grain
1 bicycle
1 radio
Source: “Material World: A Global Family Portrait” by Peter Menzel (Sierra Club Books)
