In an interview published online Wednesday by Amazon's Kindle Singles, Obama lamented a shift in culture toward consumption and the focus on celebrity lifestyles.
Obama says when he was growing up, "Kids weren't monitoring every day what Kim Kardashian was wearing or where Kanye West was going on vacation, and thinking that somehow that was the mark of success."
Obama says his daughters, Malia and Sasha, have other family members in the middle class and even poor, so they see that others struggle and that their life is "not the norm."
The interview is available for free download. Online: amzn.to/11v1TGJ
