I'm slowly realizing that we have too much variety in America. There's just too much of everything: too many types of cars, too many Netflix TV shows to choose from, too many blogs to read, too many podcasts to listen to, too many types of alcohol to drink, too much everything. This isn't just a problem for trivia nerds like me because it expands the amount of information that we need to know, but it also is just too much for the consumer to handle. It's too hard to evne know what to pick. There's ESPECIALLY too many cheeses in the world: Jarlsberg cheese, the cheese of Norway, is something I'd never even heard of, much less experienced, before watching Jeopardy. Then there's Roquefort (KING of cheeses, as if that's a source of pride), Brie, Edam, Gouda, American, Swiss chess, Camembert, feta, Parmesan, ricotta, colby, cottage, and those are just the ones I'm vaguely aware of, I'm sure there's hundreds more. And none of them will be consumed in our family because MJ's vegan (she only eats vegan cheese) and I think all cheeses are pretty similar, and don't add much different from one another. And they're not that good for you. Also Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cultures don't really have cheese in their diet, so I didn't grow up knowing anything about cheeses, didn't have pizza, didn't have Mac & Cheese, so I didn't have to make that awkward choice when the Subway guy asks you, "what kind of cheese on your sandwich?" and out of embarrassment just say "American" because that's the only one I know. America also allows way too many chemicals: The FDA allows food manufacturers to use more than a thousnad different chemicals to manufacture their food, some of which are banned in other countries. Kellogg's makes their cereal for Americans differently than the ones they make for Canadians' different ingredients. STOP eating all these exotic foods and desserts and treats and things. Restaurant foods are yummy BECAUSE they put all these extra chemicals in there on top of butter, mayo, and all kinds of stuff you don't think about because you're just admiring the taste. Stick to a strict diet that you know is healthy; that's the real choice to make.
There's way too many types of cars; I think there should just be 3 selectinos of cars in each class of cars: 3 types of sedans (Toyota, Honda, and GM each get one), 3 coupes, 3 pickup trucks, 3 SUVs, 3 minivans. That's it! More than that is just promoting big business and too much for consumers to handle.
There are too many TV shows! Not even counting the Youtube channels, there are at least 8 streaming sites with various arrangments of movies, packages, bundles, premium plans, etc. This is like the 3rd time I'm mentioning Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 4 posts, but the reason that show got such good ratings is because everyone watched the same shows, everyone could talk about it. I could ask in a random room "anyone see who got voted off Surivvor?" in 2000 and someone would definitely know. Now you get blank stares, and people have even sworn off TV. The last shared viewing experience was Breaking Bad 2013 series finale, and then 2019 Game of Thrones the collective let-down of Season 8 the Final Season.
Having too much choice has a name: it's called choice paralysis, choice overload. Even on Saturday nights (tonight) I often agonize over how to spend that precious little time: should I go to a football game, watch the MLB playoffs, work out in the weight room, go to a live comedy show, go to a classical music concert, drive to the next city over, call my mom, watch the latest UFC fight....someone on Reddit said it best, "if I only had an hour left to live and could watch any TV show I wanted to, I'd spend a half hour scrolling through to pick which show.
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