It is, in the most literal and tragic senses, a vicious cycle. The economy worsens; financial and personal pressures mount; alcohol abuse increases; incidents of domestic violence soar; education, treatment and victim services have been cut due to the bad economy.

Does the owner of a business have an obligation other than to make money? If abuse of a merchant's wares is demonstrably responsible for destructive and even criminal behavior, does commerce carry additional community responsibility?

In addition to making it easier for coal miners to pollute rivers and streams, allowing more mining in lands adjacent to national parks and implementing rules that weaken the Endangered Species Act, the Bush administration last month gave the National Rifle Association a parting gift by lifting a decades-long ban on concealed weapons in national parks.

You may have seen the plaque at your local watering hole. It pictures a well-served customer proclaiming: “We all need something to believe in. I believe I’ll have another beer.”

As President-elect Barack Obama’s transition aides scramble to develop smart ways to spend as much as $850 billion over two years in an economic-recovery plan, they should look at investing in the nation’s most treasured places — its national parks.