Big Sales in Booze And Video Games While Other Products Flatline (fred1.mpg)

Video Game sales are up in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />United States. So is the volume of booze. People are looking for cheap, escapist entertainment. They are also looking to dull the pain, or so it seems.

This article is not an attempt to get into the debate about whether violent video games contribute to social degradation, but I think we can safely say that increased sale of alcohol will not add stability to society.

With forecasts of another year of financial hell ahead, we can probably expect more of these kinds of trends. When the bottom is falling off your boat, it seems a little bit useless to keep paddling. The exuberant efforts that Americans have put into their jobs, into their homes, and into their investments seem to all have ended in futility. A responsive increase of futile activity seems appropriate, I guess.