the.com/affluenza
the disease where being rich means never having to say you're sorry.
means a supposed condition where wealthy people, especially kids, are so sheltered by privilege they can't grasp consequences or empathy.
from blend of affluence and influenza, popularized by a 1997 PBS documentary about the spiritual cost of overconsumption, then weaponized in 2013 when a texas teen's lawyer used it to argue his client was too rich to know drunk driving kills people.
court usagesuccessfully reduced a manslaughter sentence in 2013
not realunrecognized by any psychiatric diagnostic manual
original meaningonce critiqued overconsumption, not excused it