With disturbing clarity, they saw that American culture revolves around money and requires having much more of it than in their homeland. We buy our food at staggeringly well-stocked supermarkets. We also seek entertainment, edification and relaxation as consumers. Television, radio, billboards and other sources bombard us with an estimated 16,000 commercial messages daily. The median American household has more than 30 cable channels from which to choose.
Cinemas operate a dozen or more screens.
Spectator and participant sports offer a multitude of options, including hundreds of professional and college games. Our leisure life is highly consumeristic. Of course, there is something to be said for American consumerism. Choices can be good. It's one thing to categorize deodorant and used cars as commodities but another to turn friendships, worship of God, education and the rest of our lives into commodities.