Pleonexia

= the disease of overconsumption

Description

Wolfgang Hoeschele:

"The phenomenon that some people cannot be happy even at a high level of material consumption will not be seen as a justification for more consumption, but rather as a pathology akin to alcoholism or overeating (the ancient Greeks called this “malaise of the soul” pleonexia; see Booth 1993: 247–248). An alcoholic’s life cannot be improved by supplying him with more alcohol, and an obese person’s life cannot be improved by providing her with unlimited food. These people’s lives can only be improved by curing them of their addictions, and so it is with “consumptives” or “pleonexics,” who think they are suffering from scarcity even if they are consuming endless commodities. What these people are lacking is not the addictive substance, but other resources, both material and non-material, needed for dealing effectively with the challenges of life, and for living life as art."

Book Source: Wolfgang Hoeschele. The Economics of Abundance: A Political Economy of Freedom, Equity, and Sustainability. pp. 131-44