by Lenna Gonya

Created on: April 18, 2010

Today, the average family owns between 2 to 3 cars, more gadgets than we  know what to do with, and over 73% of us are, to some degree, overweight. We eat, drink, and buy to excess, and we’re not sure how we got to this point.

We are an abundant society. We own more today than any other time in history, and, need most of our “things” less. Go down any residential street in the summer and count the number of garage sales.

Not that many decades ago, if your family had one home, one car, one television set, and, a few basic, working appliances, you were living good. You were prosperous, and living the American dream.

Eating out was an event, drive up windows a new concept, and fast food was just coming into the picture. Now, after a half century of migrating through drive thru after drive thru, we have created a whole new health crisis, and a whole new market for exercise equipment.

The same criteria that once designated prosperity for our parents, would be considered to be the most basic existence, when compared to the rest of the country today. How could we possibly exist with one car, one bathroom, one telephone.

Today it’s not uncommon for families to own several cars, a truck, maybe a motorcycle, and possibly an RV and a boat.

We certainly have several TV sets, computers, and a collection of other electronic equipment that a few years ago could only be found in “Popular Science.”

Our kitchens, alone, have become space age laboratories, equipped with gadgets, most of which we no longer recognize, let alone remember what it is supposed to do, or why we bought it in the first place.

Technology flourished in the 20th century, and advertising, and, the media that allows that advertising into our homes, introduces new products on a daily basis.  
In one evening of TV watching you will find dozens of items that you must have in order to make your life easier, your neighbors jealous, or your family more successful.

In order to achieve “the good life,” we need to do everything bigger and better than ever before. And, we need to keep up with the latest trends and upgrades. The computer, cell phone, or TV you just purchased is outdated before you get it out of the box.

We are overwhelmed by the concept of new innovations and panicked by the thought that we might not have the latest and best. The problem is what to do with the “outdated” things that we are replacing. We store them, give them away, sell them, try to recycle them, or just take them to the curb.

There is probably no going back. We will continue to be excessive as long as the world has somewhere to store our leftovers.

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