@Rdt Very happy for you and I applaud your resolve. I agree, TBR is an addiction.
From what I see of the recent TBR auction prices, especially at WHC (which uses a real-time, ticker board auction system), I fully concur with the statement. I bid sometimes and I know I'm up against a person who will go way over a viable price, just to win it. And there are plenty of predatory companies ready and willing to take this kind of money.
This is basically how the world works right now and greedy companies are targeting those who literally feel compelled to spend money like drunken sailors. Of course, we have the obvious culprit, online gambling (especially sports gambling - normalized though ads), which has totally ruined an entire generation, but there are more insidious avenues, from loot boxes in video games to "hits" in trading card packs like Pokemon.
Everyone wants that dopamine rush, everyone wants to be a winner.
I think we all realize that humanity is heading for the endgame soon and people are trying to amass as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, and using whatever means possible. If that means ripping off a student or a gambling addict of his life savings, that's fine by them and keep those suckers coming. 'Doom spending' is the regular life for Gen Z and it's just getting worse.
It's like we're all on the Titanic looking for a way out, but keep in mind the line the First Officer gave Cal when he tried to bribe him:
"Your money can't save you any more than it can save me."