Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s the pandemic that is tripping the scale and Congress refusing to do anything.
It’s scary that civil unrest might be exactly what the Republican party wants.
What a nonsensical comment.
More Americans are shoplifting food
141–150 of 166 posts
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#142More and more cities and even states are adopting laws that essentially decriminalize shoplifting below $500 or $1000 worth of merchandise. Open air shoplifted-products markets now exist in major American cities. This is purely a political decision, not some pressing economic need. This is the result of the agenda of these DAs elected on aggressively progressive platforms.
That sounds extremely unlikely to me - do you have any references? Looking through gNews for 'shoplifiting' I see things like [1] which average around $100 or less and those were arrests. 1: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/12/lorain-woman-wit...
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/03/phillys-new-top-...
And since then, many other cities have followed suit.
Contrary to popular belief, almost no one is actually in jail for small time drug possession, so reducing “mass incarceration” means reducing or eliminating penalties for real crime.
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#143The US is probably inches away from a serious catastrophy caused be the extreme inequality that's only gotten worse this year. Inequality is one thing, but when you're forced out on to the street to starve to death and there's nothing you can do to improve your situation that's totally different.
Nobody is starving to death in the US. Food stamps and food bank help with that. The situation may be bad, but not as dramatic as you paint it.
You have obviously never been in such a situation.
I didn't grow up poor, but did have some time in my life when I was destitute, homeless and without prospects.
I'll tell you a few things about that:
1. It's hard to hold a job when you have no place to shower or keep your belongings;
2. Homeless shelters are frightening, dangerous places and many (myself included) preferred to sleep rough than risk their lives in one of those places;
3. Food banks/Soup kitchens, etc. are few and far between. I shoplifted and ate out of garbage cans when I had to do so;
4. If you have no fixed address or documentation, it's hard to get stuff like food stamps or other assistance.
It's been 35 years since I was in that situation, but it's an experience I will never forget. No one should be put in that situation. Ever.
You have no idea what it is to be penniless and homeless. And for your sake, I hope you never have to learn the hard way.
Unfortunately, because of the callous, calculating disregard of the US Senate, many folks in the US have and many more will learn the lessons I did.
More's the pity.
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#144More Americans are shoplifting everything . Crime is up across the board this year. In my locale, it's an open secret that most retailers will not detain you if you shoplift. And it's widely known that you wouldn't be prosecuted if they did anyway. So yeah. Shoplifting is up.
I weirdly found the micellar water under lock and key a few weeks ago at CVS. They lock the deodorant and tide detergent because those are highly shoplifted items. Didn't know makeup remover is now also included in that subset!
Tide is (was?) a black market currency... [0] I've seen it locked up in plenty of places, depending on the neighborhood.
[0]: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-tide-black-market-2013-1
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#145More Americans are shoplifting everything . Crime is up across the board this year. In my locale, it's an open secret that most retailers will not detain you if you shoplift. And it's widely known that you wouldn't be prosecuted if they did anyway. So yeah. Shoplifting is up.
This is not just your locale. Retailers do not detain shoplifters because of liabilities. This has always been the case across the United States.
This has not always been the case. 10-15 years ago Walmart employees would detain suspected thieves or even physically subdue them.
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
The state governors could choose to end lifestyle restrictions at any moment but choose not to. This is a gross misrepresentation that proves you have no interest in serious comment on this matter.
Nah man that's just how I see it. How do you see it? Do you think it's impossible to remove the restrictions now? Let me hear your side.
At this stage… what’s the point? I’m bored of this lazy and dishonest simplism cloaking itself as enlightened rationalism.
You know, because it’s self-evident, that any decision to “end lifestyle restrictions” is a complex one that involves trading off the risk of further COVID deaths versus the economic impact that lockdown causes. This is compounded by the external pressure of funding which constrains the operating parameters of states. None of this is controversial, and is a constant public discussion in every country.
Of course it’s not literally “impossible” for such a decision to be made. If I encounter someone making a good argument that this is the most effective path forward, I’ll listen to it.
Framing it as a rational choice which can just be made, free of consequence, at any point is a bullshit argument, and that’s what you’ve done.
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#147More and more cities and even states are adopting laws that essentially decriminalize shoplifting below $500 or $1000 worth of merchandise. Open air shoplifted-products markets now exist in major American cities. This is purely a political decision, not some pressing economic need. This is the result of the agenda of these DAs elected on aggressively progressive platforms.
That sounds extremely unlikely to me - do you have any references? Looking through gNews for 'shoplifiting' I see things like [1] which average around $100 or less and those were arrests. 1: https://www.cleveland.com/community/2020/12/lorain-woman-wit...
Here's one example of this kind of opportunistic shoplifting[1], though for online retail purposes, not open air markets. Those most certainly do exist in San Francisco, though. Wander (In better times, not so much with Covid) the Mission District, Outer Richmond, the Haight - Just off the beaten path will be street vendors. There will always be a "Discount homegoods" with an eclectic collection of drugs, toiletries, etc.
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/10/06/major-san-franc...
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#148One may infer which Americans are shoplifting by noting the geographic distribution of urban food deserts and the surrounding gradient of obstructive retail security.
Food insecurity implies potential for violence, and urban food deserts are practically unprecedented. One may call it a unique American achievement in urban planning.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0276146715612550
This promises interesting times when just-in-time delivery inevitably arrives a day late and a dollar short.
Just kidding, the USD is the first forever currency of the USG, the first forever empire. What's the worst that could happen?
Cities such as Baltimore and Detroit have already seen the process play out. It makes for interesting reading, from a safe distance.
Like a slow-motion forest fire, as the conflagration spreads outwards, new growth sprouts defiantly from the charred center. I wouldn't call it a natural process, but it resembles one.
Do the inner cities of other countries lie in ruins for decades, or is that an American thing?
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because money is power and it's clear people like Musk have a bigger responsibility to push for an accountable government.
Are you sure? I like Elon Musk quite a bit, and even I don't think he should go around telling politicians what to do. That's not what we as a society have businesspeople for.
I agree with you. However, there is the world we want and the world we live in. Until we have an actual democracy (which likely won't have billionaires, look into what happens in popular movements in the past) then Musk has an outside responsibility to society because he has outsized power.
Re: More Americans are shoplifting food
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
Donate cash to your food bank. Mortgages, rent and utilities are all suspended almost everywhere, so are student loan payments. So hopefully people won’t be evicted and not have to worry about bills right now. But I wonder if an instacart app for food bank delivery would be a good idea. Kind of like meals on wheels. Dunno.. it would beat queuing in cars for miles. Maybe there’s a way to do crowd funded UBI... it coul…
Mortgages, rent and utilities are all suspended almost everywhere No, they are not. Not even close to almost everywhere. Evictions are theoretically suspended in many places, but rent is definitely not and many suspect land / property owners are evicting people despite moratoriums on them due to local governments that are severely underfunded, understaffed, and/or overwhelmed that are not enforcing the moratoriums. U…
This doesn’t make sense to me. Typically evictions are enforced by the local government and not the landlords. You have to apply and eviction then it’s the police or sherif that actually kicks the person out.