There is just no satisfying some people

For years the professional hand-wringers have told we the proles how we need to remove our collective selves from the go-go ideals of greed and consumption. Whether the particular greed be that of credit card spending, gorging ourselves into obesity on food 24/7, or just plain old enjoying ourselves too too very much thank you, the hand-wringers bemoaned, gnashed teeth, rendered clothing, and wrapped themselves in hair-shirts of "when will the madness ever end?"

Well, the go-go ideals have not ended but slowed heavily. Are the hand-wringers happy? Of course not:

Now people cut up credit cards, banks recall overdrafts, food sales figures show the biggest drop since records began, and retail analysts predict the worst Christmas in 30 years.

Should be cause for joy amongst the sack-cloth crowd, no?

Oh, and in case you thought you might be a normal person who enjoys yourself whilst shopping, think again. This is the kind of thing a responsible and concerned citizen in the "social justice" mould is supposed to think of and do while picking up those knick-knacks for Auntie Bess:

Westfield's own cleaners and security guards are guaranteed the living wage, over £7.45. I checked to see, and sure enough the toilet attendant was on £7.60, a guard on £8. The cleaner I found scraping gunge off the escalator who was on £6, worked temporarily for an agency. Sadly most people working here are not covered by Westfield's promise, hired by retailers who rent space.

These professionally aggrieved types make Morrissey look like a candidate for "Optimist of the Year". What a miserable existence the professional hand-wringers must have.