I feel that part of this is caused by the competitive culture that is being cultivated all around. When we are disempowered and look at the 'royals' basically having everything that they could ever possibly want - it creates discomfort and we will unconsciously seek anything that gives us a sense of 'convenience' and that our lives are being made easy... As long as people get the conveniences they are content in many cases. Combine this with the fact that many people never go into nature or the oceans and we have a recipe for denial and disaster!