this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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[–] Syrc@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just looked up the word, but isn't this "affluenza" something rooted in guilt and which leads to near-conscious self-destructive actions? I don't think it applies, Elon probably doesn't even know what guilt feels like.

[–] DarkGamer@kbin.social 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

isn’t this “affluenza” something rooted in guilt and which leads to near-conscious self-destructive actions?

Not exactly. "Affluenza," is loosely defined, and definitions vary, but was popularized as a defense presented at Ethan Couch's trial with the premise that his killings were due to psychological effects of being wealthy and the lack of boundaries it afforded. Nowadays it's generally used to mean a behavioral illness caused by wealth/affluence.

[–] Syrc@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Though Wikipedia itself says that:

The word is thought to have been first used in 1954, but was popularised in 1997 with a PBS documentary of the same name and the subsequent book Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic (2001, revised in 2005, 2014).These works define affluenza as "a painful, contagious, socially transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more". A more informal definition of the term would describe it as "a quasi-illness caused by guilt for one's own socio-economic superiority".

The term "affluenza" has also been used to refer to an inability to understand the consequences of one's actions because of financial privilege.

So the first "popularization" seems to frame it more as a negative thing even for the self, while other definitions fit the case of Ethan Couch/Musk. Seems like the two definitions are pretty much opposites that use the same word, it's kinda confusing honestly lol