Air Jordan Explodes on the scene

A young man was arrested for inciting a riot at the Southland Mall early today. A crowd of about 300 had broke into the Mall well before it opened, but at least the situation didn't spin out of control. In Seattle, police need pepper spray to disperse a crowd there. What is the connection between these two incident?

The people involved wanted to buy the very newest Air Jordan sneakers.

This is exactly the type of absurd and insane behavior which is the direct result of the sin of consumerism. They're Air Jordans, for crying out loud. The Nike Air Jordan XI Concord! We have to have them! Now!

Ahem. No, you don't. They're shoes, and that's all. Mere things which have reached the point of status symbol simply because a famous athlete's name is attached to them. You don't need them, especially when your friends and neighbors and several local police departments are necessary to step in to quell a disturbance. In that case, you've merely a selfish and stupid oaf.

People worry all the time about the plight of the United States. The President is too strong, the Congress is too strong, the courts are too strong; so is the military and the corporate giants. Yet we never seem to worry that our country is more likely to fall because of loose or nonexistent morals, the type of which lead us to break into private property to be first in line for a pair of stupid gym shoes. The breakdown of the body politic will be the result of the unbridled passion of the individual concerned with getting things before somebody else does. It's the kind of thing which has taken over Christmas season, to the happiness of only those who make and sell stuff.

Apparently he who dies with the most toys wins after all. In the United States of America anyway.