Immediate vs. Delayed Gratification

What good is it to be right? I remember how much I respected Jimmy Carter because he told the truth and didn’t sugarcoat the problems our country faced. The majority of Americans preferred the Hollywood Ending, which was more fun and full of immediate gratification. And thus you had Ronald Reagan and his “feel good now” message, which removed fiscal oversights and planted the seeds for the jungle we are in now.
Immediate Gratification is a need that we as a country have to get over. I am often reminded of a research project that took place in the 1940s or 1950s. A researcher met with preschool age or Kindergarten age children. There was a marshmallow on a plate. She said “I have to leave the room for a brief time, if you can wait to eat our marshmallow until I return, you’ll get another one.” The reward was double, yet many children gobbled up the treat right away. The hidden camera showed that others tried to distract themselves by singing or getting up and moving around the empty room. A few stared longingly and some gave in and grabbed it and others were able to wait. Some thirty or forty years later, the researchers questioned the members of the study on things like happiness and contentment, finances, career satisfaction and relationships. There was a direct correlation between being able to delay gratification as a child and adult.
But we are the country that could rather lipo our fat rather than diet. We charge things we can’t afford on our credit cards and live beyond our means. We buy houses we can’t afford and then are surprised when the people who have lent us the money go under. Their bonuses and golden parachutes are funded by the poor slob taxpayers who are underwriting this debt.
We are not smart as a country sometimes, and that is why I worry that the sugary McCain-Palin ticket (“Tax Cuts!” “Huge Tax Cuts for the Richest People!!” “Bigger Deficits!!” “Drill, Baby< Drill!!!” “Cuts to Silly Programs Like Head Start and the Like!!!”) doesn’t prevail.