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However, the goal of all of this, as far as I am concerned, is to achieve an excellent quality of life without excess waste.
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I agree. However, we have very different definitions of quality of life and excess waste. Most of the trucks in use aren't really used as trucks, but as cars. The true cost of these trucks are in more than just dollars in purchase price and operating expenses - there are unintended and hidden costs like massive balance of payments deficits, support of regimes that we don't like and who don't like us, environmental damage and depletion of natural resources. and costs of increased injuries (see below).
The millions of trucks needlessly owned and driven reduce the quality of life for everyone - there is no free lunch.
Trucks are bought by most people not because they need them, but because the car companies make the most profit on them so they market the hell out of them. Think about it - we see many, many more truck advertisements on TV than car ads. US companies essentially don't advertise their cars. US car companies have for years made small cars with only cheap interiors so if you wanted comfort you had to buy a large car (or ironically, a truck). You may see advertisements where trucks pull trains or power through a swamp in slow motion, but you'll never see one for the things most of them are used for - like driving to the store buy beer (or, heaven forbid, being filled up at a gas pump).
The frequent argument that trucks are safer is false. Trucks have a very high roll-over rate - the type of accident with the highest fatality rate by far. Fatality rates per mile driven are much higher for trucks (and SUVs) than for any car. I've forgotten where I found the stats but the likelihood of being killed in an accident are almost ten times higher in a truck than in a small sedan. It's ironic that mothers often want SUVs to protect their kids when in fact they are doing just the opposite. It's just marketing PR that makes people think that trucks and SUVs are safer. From the NHSTA:
...data show that each new SUV comes loaded with an average of at least $3,500 in discounted economic consequence costs for the rollovers they will have during their lifetime. For pickups, the added liability is at least $2,200.
My point is that trucks for the masses don't make sense from a quality of life OR a cost/waste point of view.