A recent story in my local newspaper dealt with a sad-case family. The son was in jail for drugs, and his mother was trying desperately to find a way to give her son hope. The story described her stark home, which she shared with her son before he went to jail, containing four cats, a 50-inch plasma Panasonic and little else. The mom was particularly motivated to get back her son's 2000 BMW and 2001 Audi Quattro, both of which were recently stolen by his “friends”. She felt that by getting his cars back for him, it would give him some hope for the future.

The newspaper story addressed how this family is dealing with a lot of deep-seated issues. Yet, the plasma TV and European cars stand out as symbols of an illness that exists in our society that few want to think about, and many don't even know about.

Consumerism can be a devastating psychological addiction that saps our financial resources, well-being, and hope. I'm sure that meth wasn't the only drug in this household. The big-screen TV was likely running non-stop, altering this poor family member's brains by imparting the questionable wisdom that having nice things and living a lifestyle of conspicuous consumption is the answer to all of their dreams and woes.