Yesterday I read that Blockbuster is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.  Apparently they're about ONE BILLION DOLLARS in debt.  Even if their stock price hadn't already been steadily declining for more than ten years I can't see how this development could really surprise anyone.  I'm sure some people will blame BitTorrent, other peer-to-peer services, and piracy in general for Blockbuster's fall from glory but I don't buy it.  I'll explain why...

What little faith I have left in humanity is waning fast.  The yearly consume-a-thon ominously called "Black Friday" has come and gone, this year with at least one directly related fatality.   A 34 year old worker at a Wal-Mart store in Long Island was trampled to death when the group of shoppers gathered outside burst through the doors as the store opened.  One account I read stated that "A metal portion of the door was crumpled like an accordion." 
Folks, I know times are tough and money is tight but a man was killed so you could save some money on a fucking plasma TV or whatever other bullshit widget you absolutely needed to have.  Words fail to express how profoundly grotesque this behaviour is.
I used to think that the blame rested solely on corporate marketing and the news media for convincing the masses to consume beyond their means.  I used to blame television networks for running ads trying to whip consumers into such a frenzy in the days leading up to the sales.  Now I'm not so sure.  Yes, the Media is partially to blame for this situation but I've begun to think that there is a fundamental problem with peoples morality and system of values.  I recognize that everybody loves getting a good deal on something, and paying the least amount of money possible is fiscally responsible behaviour especially given the present economic climate.  The problem is the lengths people are willing to go to in order to get said bargain.  Common sense would dictate that the line be drawn far before killing a person.
Obviously no one intended to kill this man; it was an accident.  The problem now is to get people to learn from this tragedy and think about their actions.  Mob mentality is a dangerous phenomenon capable of making otherwise intelligent people do very stupid things.  People need to recognize this and not go all bat-shit insane every time there's a big sale on at the local Sprawl-Mart.

I recently saw an article on time.com asking a question that struck me as somewhat bizarre; "Is Cheaper Oil A Good Thing?" "Cheaper Oil"? Cheaper how? Define your terms. Sure, a litre (welcome to Canada) of gas costs less than it did last week, but does John Q actually perceive this slight drop in price as "cheap"? Apparently so. The opiated public has become so conditioned to rapid, seemingly arbitrary fluctuations in prices at the pump that they lose sight of the fact that it's been two-steps-forward-one-step-back for a very long time now.

I took this picture in June of 2003. I found the numerological irony in the price that day amusing because at the time $0.666 per litre was high. It would be about two years later that gas stations would start changing out their signs to be able to display an extra digit and shift the decimal point to the left, forshadowing the price increase above $1.00 per litre.
So the price has more than doubled in less than five years. So what? Well, how many people do you know whose income matches that increase? I'll assume "not many" and continue.