Our culture is screwed. Fueled by Black Friday – total spending over the four-day Thanksgiving weekend hit a record of $52.4 billion. But the real question is – at what cost to our society? This year’s Black Friday featured its usual flare of violence, desperation, and death. At a Wal Mart in Little Rock, Arkansas dozens of shoppers rioted over $2 waffle makers. At a Wal Mart in Arizona – trampling injuries were reported as hundreds rushed the door when it opened. At the same Wal Mart – a man was pepper sprayed by police for shoplifting – giving nearby customers a dose of the chemical weapon as well.

Keeping up with the times – a woman in a Los Angeles Wal Mart resorted to pepper spraying fellow shoppers to clear the way toward X-Boxes that were on sale. There were gunshots outside a North Carolina Wal Mart – a bomb scare at a Phoenix Wal Mart – and a brawl at a Pittsburgh Victoria’s Secret over women’s underwear. But most disturbing was what happened in a West Virginia Target – where a man collapsed on the ground and was ignored by shoppers who simply walked over his body to grab bargains rather than helping him. By the time someone did help 61-year-old Walter Vance – it was too late – he died at the hospital.

Economic stimulus aside – is this really the nation we want to be??