It strikes me as amazing how often I consider turning into a criminal.

Not a 'bad' criminal, per se, but I guess that depends on your point of view.

A teacher once told us about a story he was researching about B.C. grow-ops. Turns out, a group like, say, the Hell's Angels would give a homeowner $50,000 to use their house to grow pot. An electrician would come in to hook it all up, they'd haul in the dirt and all the homeowner would have to do is water the plants. If something weird started to happen, there was even a 1-800 number they could call and a chemist would be sent over to test the soil and make sure everything was running smoothly. After the 'season' was over the plants were harvested and everything was shipped back out of the house.

Criminal? According to the courts; just barely.

See, judges in B.C. got so fed up with wasting taxpayer money on trials that they reduced the penalty to a $5,000 fine if you were caught. There would just be more grow-ops anyway, so the judicial system wasn't even a bandaid compared to the problem.

Every time I think of ways to cut back my spending, or if something like my phone or car needs a repair, or when I watch my crushing student debt loom over me I think about the B.C. grow-op story.

With $50,000 I could be debt free in a day and still have some left over to live comfortably for a year or take a vacation. At this point, another $5,000 penalty seems like a joke compared to the rest of my debt.

I should be thankful I don't own a house out west, otherwise, I might be making a phone call. Instead, I find ways to become what I call an urban or modern bohemian. I've even considered growing a beard because it might save me from the ridiculous cost of razors.

And rich people wonder why things like piracy are such big issues. Consumerism itself creates criminals.