Yodobama said:
What.
I just...WHAT?!
This is so insane, "Oh, the guns counter is closed, let's just get a PS3 instead." I really wish that the gun counter was open, so that teen could get the shotgun, and blow the FUCK OUT OF THEM.
That's what I'd do anyway.
Well, as kewl as that would sound. I would think buying a shotgun at walmart, and then blowing your kidnappers away in the store in front of the clerk might allow you to get away from the kidnappers, however it might not get you out of the murder or manslaughter charges you would face over this. Sad as it sounds, guns don't save you, they just bring more trouble, as far as the law is concerned. Now if you take laws out of the equation things might be different. I often wonder how the world would be if everyone had a gun at all times. I somehow think that people might shoot people less if they knew everyone was armed.
But for the most part, this sort of thing does not surprise me. The economy is a big pile of crap, 10.2% unemployment (I have been layed off for months/almost a year) and there are no new more jobs. The price of stuff is going up, there is less money, and less people willing to pay people for work, or let alone, pay them what they are worth. With more unemployment, you will see more workplaces hire noobs cheaply, instead of the more expensive experienced workers. Thus service quality goes down all over, joblessness goes up, and the money problem only compounds. At some point, the threshold will break. People will be forced to decided do I want to be homeless, or am I going to go do something drastic so I can feed myself and my family tonight. Granted this case is from some punk kids robbing another kid, but I assume the kids parents could not afford a PS3 and so they found a way to get one. I guess my point is, that capitalism works great until the whole system starts shutting down like it is right now. The trickle down system Reagan put into place only keeps the rich richer, and the middle class is not disolving. As this happens, you can expect to see some high profile crimes go on the rise. You may think poor people are desperate for money. However, a middle class person pushed into poverty that was never use to that level of living conditions is going to be a slightly more upset citizens imo. That being said, has anyone seen the movie Falling Down? You can only be pushed so far until you snap. The economy is nearing that point by the day. Bush spent all the Social Security money in Iraq, so now I don't even have a retirement to look forward to in a few decades ( if 2012 doesn't wipe us out first, lol). But I guess my conclusion is this, this sort of thing will become more and more common as the economy crumbles.