I hope we don't start seeing more of this

I react more strongly to stories like this than some people do, because of my first-hand experience in dealing with the aftermath of a murder by a man with financial problems. When John List killed his family in 1971, it was an unusual story. When a Bergen County man killed his two sons and himself in 2006, it was still unusual. I fear that as the American economy collapses, stories like this will become more prevalent:

An unemployed man with an advanced finance degree who was despondent over his own financial problems shot and killed his wife, three children, mother-in-law and then himself in an upscale home in a gated community, police said Monday.

Officers found the bodies Monday morning after the wife failed to show up at a neighbor's home to go to work, Deputy Chief Michel Moore said. The deaths occurred sometime after Saturday evening.

A handgun that had been bought Sept. 16 was found in the father's grasp, Moore said. Karthik Rajaram, 45, left two suicide notes — one for police and one for friends and relatives — and a will.

The notes attest to Rajaram's financial difficulties, and he takes responsibility for killing his family members, Moore said.

Officers found the mother-in-law, Indra Ramasesham, 69, dead in bed on the first floor. Upstairs, they found a 19-year-old son, Krishna Rajaram, dead in bed in the master bedroom.

The gunman's 39-year-old wife, Subasri, was found in another room, also apparently shot while sleeping, Moore said.

In an adjoining room, a 12-year-old son, Ganesha, was dead on the floor, and his 7-year-old brother, Arjuna, was dead in bed. Coroner's assistant chief Ed Winter said the victims were shot multiple times.

Rajaram had a master's of business administration in finance, formerly worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and Sony Pictures, but had been unemployed for several months, Moore said.

Moore did not specify what financial trouble the man had been in. He noted that the family did not own the home.

We've built an entire society around consumerism. We've encouraged people to go into debt to buy more house than they need, more house than they can afford. Motor vehicle companies created leases so that people could drive more luxurious cars than they could afford otherwise. Suddenly everyone was entitled to the trappings of wealth -- the mansion and the luxury car and the 5-star Caribbean vacation every year. And now the rug has been pulled out from under us, and these people are left with nothing but debt and dashed dreams, in a country where the acquisition of STUFF is the only value.

What does it say about us that the thought of living with less is enough to make people suicidal?