Instant Gratification Gone Wild

I was watching a TV program (ok, I admit it was Oprah) about waste. First was featured a family that just was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was shown how much they wasted. By one week of living without wasting, they were able to save about $400!!! I was shocked people lived like that. Mom made 4 seperate dinners for her family w/3 kids. She threw out huge garbage bags full of spoiled food because they refused to eat leftovers. One kid had a half-dozen or so a day bottled water habit. After making breakfast, which the kids didn't eat, they went out to Dunkin for another breakfast, buying donuts and bagels. The one kid probably had 100 or so outfits in her closet, many of which she never even used. The family kept the heat between 75 and 80 because one kid felt a chill.
The second family had a kid (maybe around 7) who had a twice a week Starbucks habit, along with a 5 year-old with a video game habit. Dad had lunch packed for him, but most days he threw itout to get something different.

According to audience response, this large scale waste is apparently a common problem.

This all got me thinking about various things.

How freaking stupid are these people?

Who doesn't know that throwing out hundreds of dollars worth of food every week, along with keeping the heat on 75 is going to lead to ridiculously high bills? Who is surprised that eating out multiple times per week is expensive? And who didn't know how costly, both to the pocketbook and the environment, bottled water can be?

What I'd like to know most, I suppose, is who has hired these folks and why are they paid so much when they are not able to make the most common sense decisions?