Affluenza

In the U.S., the disease "Affluenza" is spreading faster than the bubonic plague of the 1300's, and U.S. corporations are working hard to infect the rest of the world. Affluenza, an epidemic of rampant consumerism and materialism, can be cured simply by declaring our independence from unnecessary stuff.

From Friday, May 15th, through Sunday, May 17th, at the 2nd Annual Art & Revolution Convergence a serum will be prepared to inoculate Seattle on Monday, May 18th, against the disease of Affluenza. There will be a weekend of puppet making, dance creation, music making, and street theater production on Camano Island. On Monday, May 18th, these creations will appear on the streets of downtown Seattle to challenge Affluenza. With street theater, humor, and fun, A&R will define real needs and redefine the image of success. It's not about money--it's about community, connectivity, and recreating the good life. A&R will encourage people to change their consumptive habits.

Over-consumption destroys our communities, our environment and our freedom. On average, 70% of us go to a mall once a week. We spend 6 hours per week shopping and 40 minutes per week with our children. We are working more and saving less. Our "prosperity" has caused stress and is related to headaches, backaches, depression, sleeplessness and a myriad of other ills. We are surrounded by fun toys, but we are spending more time maintaining the toys rather than each other.

By the age of 20 we have each seen one million advertisements. 40% of our mail is advertising. One billion dollars per year are spent on billboards. Children are the fastest growing segment of the consumer market--they are a cash crop to be harvested. U.S. corporations are working hard to export our consumptive habits. If the rest of the world consumed as much as we do, the world would be in an enormous environmental crisis. Since 1950 we have consumed more than everyone who lived before us. The 20% at the top of the world's economic pyramid (mostly in the U.S.) consumes 70% of the energy, 75% of the metals, 85% of the wood, 60% of the food and causes 75% of the environmental destruction. For example:

Bauxite mining destroys more surface area than mining any other ore. Eight aluminum smelters in Washington and Oregon use 16% of the region's electricity to refine bauxite and process it into aluminum. The Bonneville Power Administration, which generates power from 29 salmon destroying dams in the Columbia basin, undercharges aluminum smelters so that other customers must make up the difference--about $2 per month per household, an enormous public subsidy for a wasteful industry. Of the 100 million aluminum cans produced in the U.S., 40% end up in landfills and 60% are recycled. Recycling uses only 5% of the energy required to mine and smelt a new can.

Cattle grazing has left about 10% of the world's arid lands desertified. Cattle pollute streams and destroy riparian habitat. More than 70% of the annual grain harvest goes to feed livestock--including 60% of the nation's corn harvest or about 1/4 of all the corn in the world. The corn and soybeans fed to livestock also create massive amounts of soil erosion. Land, energy and water resources for livestock agriculture range anywhere from 10 to 1000 times greater than those necessary to produce an equivalent amount of plant foods. Livestock agriculture doesn't merely use these resources, it depletes them. Most of the world's soil erosion, groundwater depletion, and deforestation--factors now threatening the very basis of our food system--are the result of this destructive form of food production. During the A&R weekend, low-impact vegan meals will be served using primarily organic food produced in this bioregion.

People in the U.S. drive as many miles each year as all the drivers in the rest of the world combined. Traffic accidents kill more people each year than guns or illegal drugs. According to the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory, U.S. steelmakers generated 659,000 tons of hazardous waste in 1993, much of this to make cars. The steel industry emits twice as much carbon monoxide as the pulp and paper industry. Cars are the largest single producer of carbon monoxide. In a nine year period a car will use eight times the energy it took to make it. So get rid of that urban assault vehicle and take the bus, ride a bike, or walk. Driving and owning a car does the greatest damage to the environment of any other consumptive habit that we have.

The documentary "Affluenza" will be shown at Seattle Central Community College on May 6th. Proceeds will go to Cascadia Art & Revolution. To get involved or come to A&R, call 206-632-2954 or e-mail car@scn.org.

Some of the material for this article was taken from the book "Stuff - The Secret Lives of Everyday Things" by John Ryan and Alan During, and the documentary "Affluenza" by Bullfrog Films. Stump Talk is put out every other week by a few ecofreaks. If you want to help out, contact NW Forest Action Group at 206-632-2954, e-mail: can@scn.org.