Which I see as the basic problem of our culture in a nutshell.
Instant gratification is our highest value.
It is way ahead of compassion, spirituality, generosity, responsibility, a desire for peace or any other value. Actually, I think that many of us are seeing our current lifestyles as entirely too stringent and severe, as we struggle with 40 hour or more hours a week working, racing around between child care and our children's activities, being too exhausted to do anything in the evening except veg in front of tv. Using our weekends to catch up on chores. How a night on the town is stroll shopping the mall and eating at Golden Corral. We're finally seeing how our choices to support a materialistic lifestyle have us living the lives of slaves to the consumer culture.