Extravagance

I have never lived in a foreign country since I was two.  I have never lived in a third world country/developing nation.  I have never even spent more than 10 days outside of the US, since I was two.  But yet I find American extravagance overwhelming and disgusting all at the same time.

• I absolutely hate trying to shop/find a store in a huge gigantic strip mall.  There is one in American Fork that stretches from one highway exit to the next.  Its disgusting, what in the world, why do we need so much stuff that we need to shop at so many dang stores?  
• I shop at walmart quite regularly, mainly because its the closest store to my house, and because my favorite bread-- Nature's Pride Honey Wheat is two bucks cheaper than at my grocery store.  But we have a small walmart, its a supercenter but its at least 1/3 smaller than other walmarts if not more.  Which means when I go to other walmarts, I want to stand in the doorway and wonder where to go, except they all have the same floor plan so I don't get lost, but they are huge, why do we have such huge stores?!
• Once we moved to Texas we lived in a fairly affluent area, most of the kids I went to elementary school with were "country club children".  On christmas morning I would always be pleased with my presents and be pleased for the the two weeks, well I was always pleased.  But once school started back up, I never joined in the conversations about what I got for presents, my parents spent a $100 or so, not $500-$1000.  Now its my turn to be a parent, and I have no desire to keep up with extravagance, even now I try to limit their presents, they get one toy from us (and stocking stuffers), but yet by the time the holiday is over they get so much stuff, I wonder why I even buy them a toy.  They get SOOO much!! 
• We have lived in a house too big for us, and we have lived in cramped apartments.  I don't have a desire to buy a big american dream home.  I want a small modest home.