Sometimes it feels like our system of "All for oneself, screw everyone else" is a little down and dirty. That capitalism, even with the myriad of cable choices available, is really kind of corrupt and broken. That free speech is the call letters for a bunch of crap that shouldn't even see the light of day. That guns really are just an extension of one's sexual prowess--making me wonder if I have any prowess at all since I don't own a gun.

I ran across a few stories chronicling the encroachment of the "dark side" of the freedoms we love this week. I'm not saying freedom is bad, because I take every advantage (like every good American) I can. But sometimes I feel a little grimy from all of this freedom.

Since the beginning of this year, there have been power problems in California. Not enough power for all of those people living relatively close to the Pacific Ocean. Silicon Valley, the bastion of so much quick wealth in the last few years, was twinkling on and off as power consumption surpassed the power available.

So everyone within a nickel shot of California started selling their excess power, usually at greatly increased prices. The governor of California (a Democrat) pleaded for the President (a Republican, and loser of the Presidential election in California's vote) to regulate prices. The President, a great believer in something other than pleasing Californians, said no.

Prices soared to an average of $138 a megawatt hour for juice. And the California power companies (deregulated a while back to encourage competition) let the state buy excess power to shore up any blips in the continuous string of lighted lights. Amazingly, Californians realized that they shouldn't leave all of their lights, air conditioners and computers on all the time. They actually started to conserve a bit.

This should have been a good thing, but what has happened is this: the state is buying up to 20% too much power a day to prevent the blackouts. And this excess power is being sold back to the companies that supplied extra power for as little as $1 a megawatt. Let's see: sell power at $138, buy it back at $1. This seems to be a rather good profit margin for the circling sharks. Of course, it's completely legal. This is capitalism. This is supply and demand. And, maybe, this is a little bit smarmy.

There is an outdoor amphitheater in Albuquerque that has been around for about a year and a half. It was originally called Mesa del Sol, but the name was sold (after the first concert season) to the local morning paper and is now called the Journal Pavilion (catchy). It is owned and operated by a company called Clear Channel, which owns about half of the radio stations in town (another company owns the other half). The profits from this concert venue are to be split with Bernalillo county (which owns the land the venue sits on). So far, the county has not received a penny because the company has claimed they haven't made any money yet (and I'm sure their books show this to be true, entertainment books never show a profit).

I had an unofficial boycott of the place, mostly because watching a bunch of ants run around the stage from a thousand feet away isn't really my idea of a "live" concert. But a friend had an extra ticket and I wasn't doing anything, so we went to see Depeche Mode on Friday. The tickets were somewhere around $40 apiece. This is the most I've ever paid for a couple of hours of entertainment in my life. I'm going to guess there were at least 8000 people there, and at an average price of $30, that comes to around $240,000 for one night. Beer, which is a necessity when it's raining and semi-depressing Europop is playing, was $6.50 for a pint of Shiner Bock--which costs about $6.50 for a 6 pack in most cases. I had four. Someone's got to be making money around here.

This is not to say the band didn't have a great light show (which was my main focus of attention when I wasn't staring at lightening and rain clouds) or that the crowd wasn't enthusiastic and having fun. It was fun to hang with my friend and trip on the whole scene.

But back when I started going to concerts, they were around $15 a ticket for general admission and there was a sense of rebellion and danger (try riding a wave of a couple of thousand pushing and pulling people as the band plays ear-splitting raawwwk!). This was kind of like going to Disneyland, waiting in line for an hour to get into Star Tours and finding out that it's just a shaking capsule on hydraulics as a video plays in front. Maybe I'm just being nostalgic.

For a bit of contrast, Thursday morning as I was getting into my car to go to work, a very distressed woman came up and asked me for a ride. A guy had proposed she have sex with him for $40, and when she said no, he kicked her out of his car at a park near where I live. I drove the mile or so to where she was staying with her mother (she was recovering from cancer therapy and really wanted to get back to Odessa, TX, because Albuquerque was way too big for her). She offered to give me a couple of bucks and asked if I had change for a $20. I told her to keep her money. It seemed as though the system had given her enough of a ride for one day.

Matt Worley is tempted by the dark side on a regular basis.