Wanna fix the problem? Change the tax code!
We encourage consumption while discouraging investment and savings through the income tax, payroll tax, and capital gains tax.
We encourage importation while discouraging exportation through corporate taxes.
"Pop culture" is at it's core a consumer society. Our Keynesian consumption-based economy has spawned it.
Want to change it? Want to get active? Want to stop the slide? Support the FairTax, a National Retail Sales Tax. Want to know more? Ask me or go to http://www.fairtax.org
The problem is much deeper than taxes. The way Capitalism is practiced is the problem. Big corps are favored over small businesses. Farms are only businesses, thereore everyone is dependent for their livelyhood upon some thing else that they can't really see. If you want to know the real solution go to chesterton.org and buy The Outline of Sanity. You can sample it there for free.