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An affluenza epidemic

Affluent Having a generously sufficient and typically increasing supply of material possessions and wealth.

Affluenza possession of so much wealth that moral values and accountability are no longer considerations.

I love that the English language allows for new words to be added to the lexicon. Here I was, innocently thinking that “affluenza” was a new word and I find out with a little research that it has been around since the 1950s. Not until a PBS special in 1997 did it become popular in the argument against consumerism, however; “a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting in the dogged pursuit of more.” But not until Ethan Couch, who at the age of 16, drove drunk and killed four people please read that again drove drunk and KILLED four people did the term affluenza take on the ability to shock and anger us.

The attorney for Couch stated that because Ethan had been coddled and spoiled by his parents, he did not understand the consequences of his actions in mixing Valium, marijuana and booze (his bloodstream contained three times the legal limit for an adult), driving into an SUV parked on the side of the road, killing four people and injuring several others. Really? What person does not understand that killing people with your vehicle is a bad thing?

According to a judge in Texas, affluenza was a valid defense in Ethan’s trial in juvenile court and he was given 10 years of probation. I’m sorry what? An underage drinking rich kid can kill four people and only get ten years of reporting in to a probation officer? I understand that lawyers are paid to defend their clients whether they are guilty or not, but a judge should be above that.

Three innocent good Samaritans, trying to help the driver of the disabled SUV, were killed along with the driver. The pickup truck Ethan was driving had six teens in it, two of them in the pickup bed. Bodies and body parts were strewn along the road and in the ditches. And we are to believe that Ethan was too spoiled to understand the consequences of his actions?

After his conviction and sentence of probation, reporting to his probation officer was evidently too much for poor Ethan. So he and momma ran to Mexico.

Mom has been returned to the United States and faces charges of hindering an apprehension, for which she could get two to ten years of prison time. Ethan if and when he is returned to the U.S., will get 120 days for violating his parole.

I only rehash all this because, honestly, I am still in a state of disbelief. The nightly news carries this story over and over. Ethan even has his own Wikipedia page now. Now there’s a claim to fame.

What is wrong with parents? What is wrong with our society? We are an affluent nation. There is nothing wrong with that as long as responsibility is a part of affluence. Do you have a roof over your head? Food to eat? Blankets to keep warm? You are already richer than billions of people on this planet. We Americans have grown so accustomed to having it all that there is never enough. In 1913, “keeping up with the Joneses” became part of our culture from a comic strip no less. Comparing what we have, or have not, with the neighbors has become the all-consuming (excuse the pun) pastime of the Western world. But are we using our wealth, no matter how large or small, for the betterment of the people around us, or the planet as a whole? Or do we use it to bully our way through life, taking from others to further our own agenda?

We have taught our children that more is better and we aspire to a lot more. If we can’t have it all, we are despondent and consider ourselves failures. Ethan Couch was apparently taught that money can take care of everything, from material goods to beating a rap for manslaughter. How sad for Ethan. How tragic for his victims.

Ethan isn’t the only one, however. We all know someone, I’m sure, who thinks that money can buy anything: forgiveness, absolution, people, legislature, perhaps even an election. How tragic for all of us.

Robyn Near is a Ripley resident whose column appears twice monthly. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com

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