Recently a Texas boy, just old enough to drive, was given probation for killing four pedestrians while driving drunk. Part of 16 year old Ethan Couch's defense rested upon what a psychologist, testifying for the defense, said was Affluenza. No he did not get the flu. He has a different condition, which, in my opinion shows, the moral decline of the nation. News commentators have described the condition this way--"a condition in which children — generally from richer families — have a sense of entitlement, are irresponsible, and make excuses for poor behavior because parents have not set proper boundaries." I would also add, are likely enabled by their parents as the child who could do nothing wrong.
Now Juxtapose this occurrence with a quote from Pope Francis:
"If money and material things become the center of our lives, they seize us and make us slaves"
Popularized in a book from the 1990's, the term affluenza, has apparently now reached its zenith as a medical condition, when it was essentially a popular term to describe what we used to call spoiled brats. Think of the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", which at the time was funny and entertaining. Apparently, Ethan Couch felt he had to out-do Ferris Bueller.
Again Pope Francis: "How many kinds of moral and material poverty we face as a result of denying God and putting up so many idols."
It would appear that young people, like Ethan Couch, who suffer from this condition, may well be the poster children for the above quote by the Bishop of Rome. So we have four pedestrians dead due to poor judgement by a boy who, apparently, was given few boundaries and received a sentence of probation. Four lives wasted. Material goods and money seem to be at the heart of the affluenza disease. Perhaps the Judge should have at least sentenced the boy to some type of community service, particularly working with the poor, which may be a cure for this condition. Although, I have to say there is more affluenza going around that I would like to see.
To end with a final quote from the Pope: "With the 'culture of waste', human life is no longer considered the primary value to respected and protected."
Now Juxtapose this occurrence with a quote from Pope Francis:
"If money and material things become the center of our lives, they seize us and make us slaves"
Popularized in a book from the 1990's, the term affluenza, has apparently now reached its zenith as a medical condition, when it was essentially a popular term to describe what we used to call spoiled brats. Think of the 1986 movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", which at the time was funny and entertaining. Apparently, Ethan Couch felt he had to out-do Ferris Bueller.
Again Pope Francis: "How many kinds of moral and material poverty we face as a result of denying God and putting up so many idols."
It would appear that young people, like Ethan Couch, who suffer from this condition, may well be the poster children for the above quote by the Bishop of Rome. So we have four pedestrians dead due to poor judgement by a boy who, apparently, was given few boundaries and received a sentence of probation. Four lives wasted. Material goods and money seem to be at the heart of the affluenza disease. Perhaps the Judge should have at least sentenced the boy to some type of community service, particularly working with the poor, which may be a cure for this condition. Although, I have to say there is more affluenza going around that I would like to see.
To end with a final quote from the Pope: "With the 'culture of waste', human life is no longer considered the primary value to respected and protected."
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