Escape from Affluenza: Living Better on Less

Americans of all colors and income levels are questioning the work-and-spend treadmill of American life.

Premiere Date
July 1, 1998
Length
60 minutes
Funding Initiative
Open Call
Producer

John de Graaf

John de Graaf has been producing documentaries, primarily for public television, for 25 years. More than 15 of his programs have been broadcast nationally in primetime on PBS, including the one-hour documentary, Affluenza. As the film points out, since the 1950s, Americans have used more resources than everyone who ever lived before them, and Affluenza… Show more and Escape from Affluenza explore the steep social and environmental costs of our over-consumption. As a filmmaker, de Graaf is the recipient of more than 100 regional, national and international awards. He is the founder and president of the board of directors of the Hazel Wolf Environmental Film Festival. He is also the co-author of the book, Affluenza: the All-Consuming Epidemic and the editor of the upcoming Take Back Your Time, the handbook for Take Back Your Time Day. Show less

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The Film

Americans of all colors and income levels are questioning the work-and-spend treadmill of American life. Declare your independence from stuff! Escape from Affluenza is a sequel to Affluenza which introduced Americans to the epidemic of the same name — coined for the rampant consumerism and materialism ailing America today. Escape from Affluenza shows, through real-life stories, how even advanced cases of the purse- and-planet-pilfering plague are being cured.

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