What fresh hell? The riots as extreme shopping?

Every morning in the last few weeks there has been news that seems surprising and shocking - so many quite unexpected things are happening that I feel we are beginning to see the change that some of us have anticipated, coming closer.

I'm thinking at present of the downrating of the US's credit rating and China's reaction to it; but the rioting in London - although of a different order, reflects the economic uncertainty in some ways.   This whole year seems to have had extraordinary news - things like the tsunami and the nuclear accidents in Japan, the unending bad economic news, the News of the World business - things are being swept away - the familiar landscape is disappearing.   Usually this happens slowly - imperceptibly - now it seems to have speeded up.   The US credit rating, coupled with the economic crisises in Ireland, Greece and now Spain and Italy suggests that the whole idiocy of moving manufacturing industry to China from the west is now coming home to roost. 

When I was in London on Saturday the level of retail activity was such that I found myself thinking of the line in Revelation: And he causeth all, both small and great , rich and poor , free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand , or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell , save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

I wasn't particularly thinking about the mark of the beast (which is currently believed to be your credit card number!) - but just the whole idea of buying and selling - that it seems to be the major activity.  Of course it is, it always has been, but we have gone a long way beyond necessity - now it is necessary, not for us individually, but for the whole benefit of society to buy and sell as much as we can to preserve the economy.  We are not stopping for a good reason now, only because we can't afford to.  But it has become too much of the economy.  The riots in Tottenham etc. in the last two nights, are perhaps just a form of extreme shopping - no credit card required.  There is clearly a lot of good old fashioned criminal activity going on here - there is also a general lack of restraint - whatever happened to that backlash we've been expecting?