Sorry, I couldn't post the article(in fact, my wife doesn't like me to post anything).
Below I will summarize a key point out of my discussion with my son before his writing. Yes, the mass media's huge influence on consumers is well recognized, along with others such as
the relatively new internet. However, the mass media had existed long before the take off of the
consumption for life style since the later 1960s, and how come the US still had largely remained
as a big net-saver until then? Therefore, there must have been a real cause-not just an influence, which has changed people's
mentality into "me-now" and "catch up with the Joneses". IMHO, the cause is the inflationary
money policy directed toward consumers by the FRB since then. As you might have already noticed,
this policy penalizes savers and rewards spenders, especially those with borrowed money. Thus, such a policy over a long term can train any lab rat into a performer for reward--let alone
the mass media has been cheer-leading/couching all the way along. Very few have even noticed that it
has also demoralized the entire society. Why such a policy? Who are the real beneficiaries? How long can it last? You may want to read
"The Creatures Form Jekyll Island" to start your thinking. Have a nice smr! | 
