A few days ago, some of my relatives were talking about how they were going to go to Wal-Mart in the morning to find some of the incredible 'Black Friday' deals. Half-joking, I issued a warning about how, every year, someone gets trampled by a crush of shoppers at a Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving.

It happened again this year. In Long Island, NY, a group of shoppers were pushing so hard against the doors at 5 AM that everything exploded inward. Four people were injured, and an employee was killed by the onslaught of people. When the police shut down the store for a few hours to assess the scene, the shoppers responded with complaints about how it wasn't fair because they'd been waiting so long to get a good deal.

Isn't consumerism wonderful?