The Affluenza infection

John De Graaf, David Wann, Thomas H. Naylor’s book Affluenza  describes Affluenza as “a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.” I thought that it was a perfect topic for discussion especially since this course is about convincing people to buy.  This book talks about the American values that are disappearing as people become engrossed in gaining ever more material goods. Families are getting torn apart, buried under financial ruin while their debts keep piling up because they cannot seem to stop buying stuff even if they cannot afford it. The long hours needed to provide the things they deem necessary are also weakening the bonds of families. Parents are forgetting the most important thing that children need is love, acceptance and their parents to be there for them. Relationships are falling apart because people are not spending enough time together. The wasteful consumption is destroying the world as we eat our way through non-renewable resources with no thought of the future. We have forgotten that less is more. This is one book that I would recommend reading.

Are you suffering from Affluenza?

The Egyptian Uprising and the effect on their tourism

We’ve all hear about what’s going on in Egypt for the past weeks and how a people’s need for a better life led to the revolution that has captivated the world’s attention, while giving hope to people in similar situation.  On the other hand, the country’s economy has taken a beating because of the turmoil as well as the hundreds of people who have not been working. Egypt’s tourism industry in particular has suffered the most, which the country is very reliant on. Millions of people flock to Egypt to visit the pyramids of Gaza as well as the country’s famous Sphinx. 

 Any country going through what Egypt is going through is not conducive with tourism. Tourists would not feel safe especially when other countries were scrambling to get their people out of Egypt when everything started and the outburst of violence and the pictures of the battered that also dominated the news. 

  

This is also the height of the tourist season because a lot of people are leaving the cold climates for somewhere warm. According to the NPR website, “The uprising here sparked a massive exodus of tourists, and the loss of revenue could run into billions of dollars.”  Although Hosni Mubarak, Egypt’s president for 30 years has agreed to the people’s demand to step down, the country is far from stable. The Egyptian government and businesses have a rough road ahead with convincing tourist and businesses to come back to the country; it’s a marketing nightmare.

Would you want to visit Egypt any time soon?