Common Ground, an environmental and social justice student organization at PSC, is sponsoring a program that will examine the subject of “affluenza” on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22.
PSC Associate Professor of Zoology Len Reitsma will show the video “Affluenza” and lead a discussion on Teusday, April 22, from 2:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. in HUB 109. “Affluenza” may be defined as “a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of voerload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.” The subject was examined in depth in two highly acclaimed television documentaries on PBS entitled “Affluenza” and “Escape from Affluenza”. The documentaries used the metaphor of a disease to look at the damage done to our health, our families, our communities, and our environment – by the obsessive quest for material gain.
Common Ground President Melissa Saggerer, in urging people to come see the first of these two videos said, “the video ‘Affluenza’ isn’t some boring documentary. It uses humor, old film clips, and compelling stories to expose the disease of over-consumption and its negative effects. And it offers some ‘treatment’ ideas to help us recover.”
Also on Earth Day, April 22, Common Ground has invited a number of environmental organizations to provide informational tables in the Pawsway of the HUB, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Beginning at 4 p.m., live music is planned outside the HUB.