Affluenza
By Albert B. Kelly
For the most part, I have always regarded reading as a
relatively passive and harmless activity- something to stimulate the mind and possibly
spark the imagination. But reading an article that appeared on a news-feed from
the Washington Post recently, I’m reminded of the fact that reading can
occasionally raise your heart rate and spike your blood pressure to unhealthy
levels.
This reminder came in the form of an article about a young
Texas man named Ethan Couch who, at the age of 22, now finds himself back in
jail for breaking the terms of his probation- again. According to the article,
when Mr. Couch was 16 years-old he drove his father’s pick-up truck, high on
booze and valium, straight into a group of people trying to help a stranded
driver on a Texas road killing 4 in addition to injuring several of the passengers
in the pick-up truck he was driving.
The body count alone would be enough to spike anyone’s blood
pressure but here’s the thing; this kid’s defense at his 2013 sentencing was
that his parents spoiled him growing up and this wealthy upbringing was the
thing that kept him from fully understanding the consequences of his actions-
aka “affluenza”.
In other words, society really shouldn’t punish the poor lad
for swallowing pills, getting drunk, and killing and maiming people in a
vehicle because he was too wealthy and too spoiled and unable to think of
anyone but himself. Apparently the judge sympathized because the kid got 10
years of probation during which he was to remain drug and alcohol free.
But as you might suspect, being wealthy and spoiled, Mr.
Couch didn’t meet the terms of his probation and we know this from a December
2015 video on social media which apparently showed Mr. Couch drinking in
violation of his probation. The prospect of punishment for violating parole prompted
mother and son to flee to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico as opposed to showing up at
his bail hearing. Within a month, the authorities figured out where they were
when the two fugitives ordered a pizza delivery to their condo.
For all of this, another judge sentenced Mr. Couch to a mere
720 days of jail time (180 days for each person killed) along with new
probation terms. After getting out of jail (not state prison) in 2018, Mr.
Couch, in addition to having a curfew and a GPS monitor which has since been
removed, has had to remain drug and alcohol-free which he was unwilling to do
which is why he is now back in the news.
I should say at the outset that if the goal was to
rehabilitate the lad and instill in him some sense of the magnitude of what he
did, I can think of no better place than a medium security prison where the
young Mr. Couch would have ample time to detox, wrestle with the devastation he
caused, and get over his sense of entitlement. But that opportunity was missed
and it’s being missed still.
I mention it all because it captures exactly why so many
people are angry over inequality and privilege. If it was a poor kid,
especially a minority kid, I seriously doubt that a judge would have handed
down a sentence of probation, especially with a body count of four dead and
several injured. Hell, we’ve got poor kids doing years in state prison for
holding a little weed, but the wealthy kid mows down some innocent people on a
roadside and “affluenza” becomes a thing.
For all I know “affluenza” might be a valid defense and it might
even explain why so many horrendous things can take place at a frat party and
none of it will impact a wealthy lad’s future prospects of sitting on the
Supreme Court. But if we’ve got to accept “affluenza” as a defense or even a
justification, then the same has to apply to the opposite of “affluenza”-
namely crushing poverty and hopeless despair.
That’s not too much to ask from a society that values equality
under the law or says it does. After all, if someone can’t appreciate the
consequences of their actions because they’ve been spoiled and never told no,
then the same holds true for someone whose life is characterized by
indifference, deprivation, and never being told yes. Both prospects are
frightening and for those of us in between the extremes, maybe this fear is the
only thing that is equal.