"You are NOT special." - Famous Jeffers family line used to remind each other that "sh*t happens".
We, you and I, are NOT special.
A couple of well known peak oil bloggers, namely Dmitri Orlov and yours truly, have postulated that a form of consumerism, or what I call "competitive materialism", has taken hold within a certain subset of our society... and the media was only too happy to perfectly exemplify this sub-group with its outrageously disgusting reality show "Real House Wives of (the Rich)" and the Prime Time Soap, "Desperate Housewives". Under no circumstance did I suggest that this was the ONLY societal subset carrying on in this repulsive way... but it would be hard to argue that they were not the leading demographic (if for no other reason than that the other subsets simply don't have the funding). There is a very good reason that these shows came into existence - they entertain a large segment of our society that seems to identify with the characters... and the segment is appealing to the advertisers buying space on these shows.
Do some independent research. Watch these shows for the sole purpose of observing the products and services advertised. My bet is that if you are the type that reads here you are not watching this show very often... and my further bet is that you will have some very strong opinions upon viewing this.
Americans are horribly, negatively, and adversely affected by T.V. in particular, and the media in general. L.A. street gangsters, strippers, the bankrupt, white collar criminals, and common thugs have one thing in common - negative Media influence. Ever do business with an Amish person? I have. Its fascinating. It has been my experience that they completely lack guile. They lack any sense of personal presentation - what we refer to as "cool, style, bearing, vogue"- most of which the rest of us got from (or were infected by) the BoobTube, something the Amish lack input from.
I must point out that there is a significant difference between "consumption", "consumerism", and "competitive materialism"... not that I think anything should be done about it... I am not about to suggest that the "credit card police" should be formed to supervise American's purchases. I was only pointing out the miasma of it. Men will always compete for you-know-what, however you wish to define "it". Many of those in possession of you-know-what will trade for "it". Might as well deny that the sky is blue. And thank goodness... otherwise we might still be living in caves and howling at the moon. Each of us is the product of something that has been going on for a great deal of time before we showed up to consider the outcome.
Let me turn my critical ire onto another sub-set of American culture, one that is far more socially acceptable to heap scorn upon than The Real Housewives of the Newly Rich: The young, irresponsible, non-providing, permanent-member-of-the-underclass-for-generations-to-come, absentee fathers... Before I dig my teeth into these sub-humans... let me ask you something... do these guys exist in cultures that lack "social safety nets"? Do you think there are dead-beat and absentee fathers on the Tibetan Steppes? How about in the Peruvian Andes? Sorry, this is not a common problem in these parts of the world... and we all know why (even if we cannot bring ourselves to admit it) - our governments intervene into our family lives and their government's lack the resources to do so (or they probably would). One size fits all marriage law and one size fits all safety nets seem to have similar outcomes - very negative, unintended consequences. Who'd a thunk it?!
In all of this, I am merely making observations based only upon my experience. Further, I firmly believe the fix is in, and we need do nothing about any of it. This is all just an amusing exercise.