Too Much of Everything

Having lived now for almost 54 years, I have a few decades to contemplate.  What I have been feeling lately is that at this stage in the history of mankind, there is too much of everything.
I grew up on a farm, went to a country type school, had one television channel and a party line telephone.  Now the family farm has been diminished by corporate farms, country schools are no longer, there are hundreds of channels and cell phones rule the world.  I am not naive in thinking that things shouldn't and won't change, but I also feel like we don't have to embrace things just because they exist.
Having all those television channels doesn't mean there is any thing worthwhile to watch and are we really more connected as a society just because we can be reached 24/7 via cell phone?  I would say we are less connected and due to having too many choices and too many things, our minds are cluttered.
While I regret to admit I am a fan of American Idol, lately I have been wondering do we really need any more "artists".  What happened to the time when people were just discovered and not forced.  The channels are bogged down with "reality" shows.  Are they reality?  I highly doubt it.  Why not embrace our own reality and make the most of each day rather than sitting around watching other people's lives?  Why do we care about the Kardashians or the daily barrage of which star's relationship ended or who got a tattoo?
As a society we must not like our lives much if we are so enamored with the trivial details of others.
I would venture to say we were a happier people when we could walk into the local grocery store with less choices but where we were known and cared for.  We were more contented when we watched our one channel rather than flipping through hundreds.
We were more connected when families and friends actually helped each other rather than were "friends" via Facebook.  As Jay Leno once said, "when you need helping moving, you will find out just how many Facebook friends you really have."

I don't claim to be a Luddite, but I do believe it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate our priorities before our minds become as cluttered and overflowing as our landfills.
Thought for today:  Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand instead of a million count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail. ~Henry David Thoreau