131–140 of 351 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wouldn't people just collect UBI AND steal? The article explicitly mentions that most of the people doing this are also receiving state and feral unemployment benefits
If UBI (or feral benefits) fulfilled their needs then I doubt that they would resort to crime.
A friend of mine is a manager at a Safeway. He says a typical store might lose six figures worth of product in a year. In a bad neighborhood it's not uncommon to lose over a million dollars a year. They hire security personnel, but people figure out that a) even when security catches you, they are not allowed to restrain you and b) the police do not respond to shoplifters (in certain jurisdictions they are not allowe…
I noticed my local Home Depot has done away with the security tag scanners at the front of the store, apparently in favor of a cluster of new cameras above all the exits. I wonder if we're headed for just having an AI watch everyone all the time in the store like the automatic-purchase grocery stores Amazon was setting up. Either that or they discovered that it was better for their bottom line to put real security ar…
Stores will use cameras and AI to build a comprehensive case against someone or group and then notify the police. That will be enough for a warrant etc...
Probably a startup or two in this space. I am sure home depot or CVS will invest in your series A.
Nobody working on wage theft by employers, by far the largest organized theft ring running.
Wage theft reported in Iowa using unpaid overtime as an example: http://www.iowapolicyproject.org/images/150818-wagetheft-Fig... EPI has some good articles as well: https://www.epi.org/publication/wage-theft-bigger-problem-fo...
UBI might fix this. Criminals, as a rule, aren't doing it for lulz. It's like the free speech problem. Don't combat the bad by trying to stamp it out. Combat it by providing a better option.
This appears to be part of a long running PR campaign by large corporations that are happy to lock up poor, mentally-ill and drug-addicted people at the taxpayers expense if it lets them fear monger, while at the same time stealing from their own employees. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/... https://www.npr.org/2020/10/16/923844907/when-shoplifting-is... https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinio…
Going to CVS is a timesink now that I have to walk around and ask employees to open cases for me. Why can't they use vending machines?
Hang on, we’ve had literally thousands of years with stores where you could pick up an item and run away, but don’t. There is now are organized shoplifting crime groups, and your solution is to design specialized vending machines for teeth whitening strips, phone chargers, etc? I’m not saying it is a net good to deploy violence on poor people. But don’t you suppose that society would benefit overall if there were phy…
This appears to be part of a long running PR campaign by large corporations that are happy to lock up poor, mentally-ill and drug-addicted people at the taxpayers expense if it lets them fear monger, while at the same time stealing from their own employees. https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/... https://www.npr.org/2020/10/16/923844907/when-shoplifting-is... https://www.sfchronicle.com/opinio…
I don't care if they're rich, poor, mentally-ill, or drug-addicted - if someone breaks the law, there needs to be some sort of punishment. Letting them off is just enabling repeat offense and signaling to other criminals that this behavior is tolerated as we have seen.
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And what happens if you check the receipt on the body and find out that the item wasn't stolen? How many years do you face for murdering a customer?
I can point to where firearms have stopped shoplifting crimes. Can you point to where your scenario has happened? Because I’m all for hypotheticals, so long as we admit the rarity and precedent before saying there is a problem.
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but in Texas, how likely is the staff or the store owner to be armed, and actually confront you? No way that would happen in California. I keep thinking of this event that happened to me in the UK, where laws are equally useless at preventing theft, and staff are just powerless to do anything about it. I chased down a shoplifter. I cornered him in an alley. He stopped, looked at me, and this brief conversation took p…
>> but in Texas, how likely is the staff or the store owner to be armed, and actually confront you? At a CVS? Not likely at all.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The felony theft limit for Texas is $2,500, but their retail establishments do not report massive shoplifting sprees. Clearly there is more than misdemeanor/felony classification at work here.
but in Texas, how likely is the staff or the store owner to be armed, and actually confront you? No way that would happen in California. I keep thinking of this event that happened to me in the UK, where laws are equally useless at preventing theft, and staff are just powerless to do anything about it. I chased down a shoplifter. I cornered him in an alley. He stopped, looked at me, and this brief conversation took p…