There is no such thing as independence, as we are all reliant on others.
I agree with this totally. Even so called independent nations still rely on others when the need arises, and some almost all the time.
While your interpretation of our current approach to entertainment is accurate, I think it's because human beings are wired to naturally want to make things easy for itself, while neglecting the fact that life for the early man started so crude for a reason.
Back then it was natural to be fit and healthy because the quest for survival drives you into working hard, but right now life is so easy for many, they just sit down and eat their way to fatness; enjoying temporary self gratification and tending towards long term emotional, physical and mental skill set annihilation.