Top Ten Things We're Glad the Recession Killed | SPIKE

With the near constant barrage of unemployment statistics, budget deficits, and bankruptcy announcements, it’s easy to get swept up in all the doomsday rhetoric surrounding the recession. But not all the effects of the economic downtown are bad. Some of them are actually a cause for celebration.

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10. The Five Dollar Cup of Coffee

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It doesn't take an economics degree to see that the overpriced coffee craze was getting out of control. When the fake money ran out, so did people's desire to fork over more cash for a cup of java than a gallon of gasoline, as indicated by the situation Starbucks finds itself in as of late.

9. Junk Mail

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Advertisers like to refer to junk mail as "direct mail" but we know better, because this crap is completely useless on the vast, vast majority of the populace. So when cash gets tight, advertisers cut back on their direct mailing to save money. Hey ad guys, here's a pro tip: Stop sending useless crap to people who don't want it to achieve maximum savings!

8. Celebutaunt Culture

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Back in the carefree days of the early 21st century when tons of credit was readily available, living beyond our means was hip, and being slutty was not only acceptable, but embraced, with "celebutaunts" like Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie heralded as the pinnacle of pop culture. Thankfully, the dose of economic reality handed to us recently proved once and for all that your dog does not need its own jewelry.

7. Useless Junk Stores

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Another by-product of a society with too much money on its hands is the "Useless Gadget/WTF is This??" store. You know, kind of places whose entire purpose to exist is to sell you things you never knew you needed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, when the extra money dried up, people came to the realization that they didn't actually need an iPod dock in their shower, and places like the Sharper Image took a nosedive.

6. Cribs-style TV Shows

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Can't say I'll miss these types of programs, either. These shows were the apex of the worst aspects of "bling" pop culture -- a trend founded on an obsession for consumerism and vanity. The purpose of each episode was to show the viewer how much better famous people lived than mere commoners.

These shows seemed to have been designed to create a sense of jealously and want in those viewers so they'd go out and spend more money on things they didn't need so they could pretend they were also famous rap stars. Guess it's tough to get people excited about glamour when their house is getting foreclosed on. Funny thing is, all that expensive crap we saw wasn't even theirs.

Production of Cribs ended over a year ago, and we can only hope that other shows of this ilk will soon follow suit.

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