What is Affluenza?

Ours is a world where injustice and inequality abound. A different system prevails for the rich and a different one for the poor. We are certainly not telling you anything new.

16 year-old Ethan Couch, son of wealthy parents, drove off at more than 70 miles per hour in a 40MPH zone. He had seven of his friends with him. About an hour later, Couch lost control of his vehicle and ploughed the truck into a group of people. Breanna Mitchell, Hollie Boyles, Shelby Boyles and Brian Jennings were all killed. Two of Couch’s passengers were badly injured. One was paralysed, losing the ability to speak and the other suffered broken bones and internal injuries. Couch was found to have a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit for adult drivers and also tested positive for Valium.  Ethan Couch received no jail time for his crime. Instead, Couch was ‘sentenced’ to a long-term, in-patient facility for therapy and rehabilitation. His expensive team of lawyers, with the help of a psychologist called in as an expert witness, had managed to successfully mount a defence around the concept of ‘affluenza’ – the inability to understand the consequences of one’s actions because of financial privilege. Blame it all on affluenza. British psychologist Oliver James defines affluenza as “placing a high value on money, possessions, appearances (physical and social) and fame.”

Paris Hilton built a $325,000 mini-mansion for her dogs.

Nicolas Cage bought three homes, 22 cars and a $270,000 dinosaur skull all in the same year.

Mukesh Ambani, the Indian billionaire whose 27-storey, 400,000-square-foot home in Mumbai requires a staff of 600. 

Affluenza has robbed them of their souls. But lets call a spade a spade...Affluenza is capitalism. That is where the blame does lie.