This year, your holiday bonus may be going toward a cause you didn’t even know existed: the cause to help middle-class people maintain a comfortable standard of living during the recession.

It is estimated in the annual Global Retail Theft Barometer report, released Tuesday, that the average family spent an extra $435 this year as a result of retail store price increases.

The reason for the price increases is because of a rise in middle-class people shoplifting items they can no longer afford but still want.

The report came out of the U.K.-based Centre for Retail Research, containing data that presented almost a 9 percent increase in
shoplifting over the past year.

From the looks of it, this holiday season has changed from the season for giving to the season for taking. Taking “expensive popular branded items” such as cell phones, Wii’s, iPods, perfumes, cosmetics, razor blades and small leather products to be exact, according to CNNMoney.com.

And the worst part is that researchers have found that most of these unlikely shoplifters feel justified in their actions, according to Time magazine.

On the surface, the bad economy once again seems to be the culprit. With people losing jobs and the dollar not stretching as far as it used to, people are bitterly taking out their anger on large companies. But all actions have consequences, and stealing merely passes your financial burden onto someone else.

We have come to believe that the economy is to blame for everything lately, but in these shoplifting cases, how can anyone agree to make the economy the scapegoat?

The blame lies solely with greedy people.

According to USAToday, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, Diane Swonk, said current wages aren’t keeping up with the rising price of energy and groceries, and “it just leaves less money for everything else, and that breeds a lot of temptation.”

It’s like the people who blame McDonald’s for making them overweight.

It’s ridiculous. Temptation can test one’s character, and when people give in to temptation, they only have themselves to blame.

It angers me to see people constantly blaming the economy and the president for the country’s problems, while so many do exactly the opposite of contributing to a recovery.

Our current society’s legacy may be one that constantly misdirects blame. At some point, people need to grow up and take responsibility for their own actions if they want to see change.

Doesn’t anyone remember former President John F. Kennedy’s influential inauguration speech? It goes a little something like, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” Now that’s change I can believe in.

During this upcoming holiday season people should jump off the gravy train and reassess their needs versus wants.

I hope people will resist the temptation to overspend on an excessive amount of gift cards or loot useless stocking stuffers this December. If people continue failing to hold themselves accountable for their actions, it will be an uphill battle for the economy to redeem its former reputation.

Reach Erica at etiffany@asu.edu.