Our Fast-Food Society

I think we live in a "fast-food society where that mentality extends far deeper that our culinary desires... We are a people driven by instant gratification, whether it be food, or goods, or relationships, or whatever. We've come to expect what we want, and expect it now. We want things faster and faster, and it doesn't matter if we can afford it or not, for we have "instant credit" or "no money down"...
Is instant gratification good? What harm does it cause to get now, instead of later? I propose that the harm is far deeper, more subtley devistating than people ever realize. From a financial stability standpoint alone the effects of buying on credit are devistating. To be fair, a credit card should be renamed a "debt card", for you don't gain credit, you gain debt. The extent that people are willing to extend their debt is frightening, and, if it were not so lucritive and profitable credit card companies wouldn't vie so hard for our business. The desire for "have it now" has spawned many, many "cash stores", or instant loan establishments that reap fees and interest in excess of 100 to 400% just to feed our desires. But outside of the financial devistation what does instant gratification do to us?
The biggest effect is our inability to learn patience, which affects our very core existence. Patience allows for error in life, in relationships, for forgiveness, and for reconcilliation. When we learn to be patient we develop the ability to savor, to appreciate, to experience at a deeper level. When we learn patience we learn responsibility, we develop respect, compassion, and self-control. With self-control we learn that those spur-of-the-moment desires are often fleeting, and unnecessary, and we can do without them and never miss them in the long run. We also learn that not everything is about "us" and meeting our desires, that the focus doesn't have to be "me"... We begin to notice those around us, and the needs of others become more important than personal desires. (Those desires that are important are more appreciated when achieved when they're affordable).
Another area we are totally blindsided in with our desire for instant gratification is in the area of relationships. Any relationship, if it is going to last, needs time and commitment (among other things, like communication, honesty, fidelity, trust), to build a firm foundation. Today we have "speed dating", "internet dating", instant relationships... Just as quickly as we jump in, we find our partner isn't all we expected and off we go, on to the next. Divorce is at an all-time high, co-habitation is rampant, infidelity accepted as a norm... All because we have to have it now. What if we spent time learning about our prospective mate, their likes and dislikes, their attributes and faults; what if we compared who they are with who we are before entering a "committed" relationship (which isn't much of a commitment at all usually!) to see if we are really compatible? Imagine how many "mistakes" would be avoided... But it takes time, and commitment, the very enemies of our "fast-food" society...