"The perils of living in a consumer paradise" -- a review of The Paradox of Choice, a new book exploring the link between the overwhelming number of choices American have in everything from their mate to their breakfast cereal, and the general epidemic of unhappiness: "Clinging tenaciously to all the choices available to us contributes to bad decisions, to anxiety, stress, and dissatisfaction - even to clinical depression." I like this spin on the "more stuff is bad" theme -- it's a partial explanation of why that is psychologically, not just a moralistic/environmental screed. I actually think back on my parents' hard-line stance against acquisition of material goods with fondness; it's the complete opposite of a lot of the parenting I see around me these days, which is of the "You can have anything you want" school. My dad used to stop at the Friendly's and order four small vanilla cones for my sibs and me, and we were quite happy (and, apparently, better adjusted), and he avoided the whole "Tell the nice man which flavor you want now, Kaitlyn" drama many parents put themselves and their fellow customers through. A simplistic example, perhaps, but in my experience, kids/people who have no limitations on what they can choose turn out pretty warped.