Interesting graphs and charts department

[ZenGum]

Is this a natural trend?

I think yes. Wealth accumulates. If nothing is done about it, this will keep going, until it cannot go any further.

Do we have to sit back and let it happen?

No.
The modern economy is something we have created, a lot by individual and corporate activities, and also a lot by governments creating sets of rules that make a stable society and complex finance possible. We can adjust the rules. We should just remember that we are tinkering with a complex, chaotic system and unintended consequences are pretty much certain, as is the further exploitation of whatever changes we make.

[Lamplighter]

Here is an early symptom of retail-market saturation.
There's only so much $ to spend on X-mas.
So retailers' tactics are to get it first, before it's spent elsewhere.

USA Today
Nov 5, 2011

Why wait until Black Friday? Retailers tout big deals early

Black Friday is more popular than ever with holiday shoppers,
but that isn't stopping retailers from trying to lure bargain hunters
into the stores ahead of Thanksgiving.

.

[Spexxvet]

another reason to legalize pot

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by Spexxvet

another reason to legalize pot

That graph is interesting but it needs a third axis.

It is right to consider the risk of dependency and the risk of overdose, but there is also the risk of being mentally screwed up by it without either dependency or overdose.

According to this graph, LSD is the safest drug there is, much safer than caffeine.