scary stuff

I'm reading Born to Buy by Juliet B. Schor. It's about the targeting of children by people wanting to sell them everything from Happy Meals to SUVs. One quote sums it up so far.

We have become a nation that places a lower priority on teaching its children how to thrive socially, intellectually, even spiritually, than it does on training them to consume.

Thoughts? Are we raising a generation that won't know how to use a compass but can navigate the megamalls blindfolded? Is that a bad thing? How do we help our kids avoid the consumption mentality and still help them be engaged with the world and the culture?
One of the most amazing things to me is how the "christian" world has bought into the very same mindset. Marketing and consumption are as prevalent in those circles as in any secular ones. Of course it's in the name of the Lord so that makes it all better.
Right?
j