The rampant consumerism in the United States is absolutely disgusting; the fact that some one would stab you over a thing is just despicable.
A few years back a friend of mine who did two tours in Iraq was shot by a guy. The man tried to mug him but he had no money to give him so the guy decided that, that was worth a bullet in the ribs.
You are right about the consumerism @tensor, it is the main driving force of our economy these days. However, i believe the violence is propagated and increased exponentially by the drug "problem " induced by either the medical /pharmaceuticals industrial complex or the "war on drugs" which is just our own government alphabet gangs flooding the nation with foreign drugs to give themselves a purpose and line their coffers at the same time.
I couldn't agree more. I used to live around the Baltimore area which has a rampant drug and murder problem. The two absolutely go hand in hand and the lack of good education follows closely behind.