Every day, it seems, we either discover something new that we indulge in but is bad for us, or some sort of cultural or social expectation or phenomenon that isn't healthy. But whether it's the amount of junk food Americans eat, our hang-ups about being too skinny or too fat, or our concern over the government being run by big money, I say: Blame it on the marketing experts.

If there's one thing that has struck me as way out of hand today in America compared to when I left it over 20 years ago, it's that marketing runs American culture now much more than it did when I was a kid. There's a huge amount of science and money behind it, if you didn't know, and the effects are impossible to avoid unless you live in a cave.

Take holidays, for example. They have transformed from cultural events into excuses for blatant consumerism for which there is a certain type of candy, certain types of necessary gifts, and so on. Why? So companies can make money, of course. It didn't used to be this way. I didn't used to buy Lindt bunnies on Easter (though they're delicious!). Maybe I made cookies at Christmas and ate candy corns on Halloween and bought those message hearts on Valentine's Day as a kid, but nothing on the scale of what I'm seeing today. Worse, because, like a lemming, the average American has followed the herd over the cliff, it's impossible to escape this marketing-imposed culture of buy, buy, buy to have the right holiday. As a parent, I'm confused: Should my kids miss out on this marketing-imposed culture just because I'm philosophically opposed? Or do I go along with the herd?

As someone who isn't perfectly thin, I can't help but welcome certain clothing brands' campaigns to offer stylish larger sizes or to present curves as sexy. "I'm no angel" is Lane Bryant's current not-so-subtly anti-Victoria's Secret ad campaign. Some people might think: Hurray, culture is coming back around to a healthy attitude about weight. Maybe. But at best, it seems to me that the marketing experts are just jumping on the cash bandwagon, dragging us behind them. Don't be fooled, oh curvy person, that clothing companies want you to feel good about yourself. They just want your money! They're no different than the fast food or junk food or cheap food companies who sold you unhealthy food in the first place!

Each company brands itself differently, of course. Shopping at Walmart, you can "spend less, live better," for example. Meanwhile, the cheap clothing or toys you bought there or elsewhere might be providing a livelihood for families in developing countries. Or, they might have been produced in near slave-labor conditions. Is that what you really want? Of course not. But the marketing experts know that you want to live better for less, so that's what you're sold.

It's gotten so bad that Super Bowl ads are a cultural phenomenon in and of themselves! People are encouraged to look forward to them and watch them again and again on YouTube. For Pete's sake!!!! Wake up, people! You've been duped into allowing marketers to shape your lives!

Unfortunately, I don't have an answer on how to avoid getting sucked into this mind-numbing vortex. It's hard for me, because when I lived in other countries, I looked for ways to blend in. I enjoyed learning about and participating in the local culture. But the longer I live here in the US, the less convinced I am that I should be participating in all of the American culture of today. It seems imposed from without instead of generated from within, and that concerns me.