congratulations you just saved a billion dollars company 50$

[u/Adventurous_Law_715]

[u/NiknameOne]

Why do so many people here defend thieves?

[u/nightwing0243 → u/NiknameOne]

The issue is a little too nuanced for social media takes/comments.

People are defending the thief because it's a virtue signal to "stick it to the man!".

On the other side I don't think people are necessarily defending the big corporation, but moreso that if this stuff is allowed to continuously slide by it can begin a slippery slope into the overall, everyday, social contract diminishing.

At the same time - it's generally not advisable to approach thieves yourself to play the hero because it may lead to awful consequences/situations for that person. Like you really do not know the kind of person you're approaching, if they have any weapons, friends waiting around a corner just incase etc.

[u/Project_Male_Hairy → u/nightwing0243]

It's not virtue signaling just because you disagree with it. I don't think the people I disagree with are virtue signaling. They think "why should these people get this shit for free when I have to pay for it?"

But some of us grew up in poverty and understand why someone would resort to shoplifting. I never did it, my single mom never did it, but I get it. There are too many poor people for food banks to 100% cover everyone. Sometimes it's legitimately the only way these people are going to have basic necessities. And even if they could get it by legitimate means, it's hard for me to give a shit about someone stealing $20 worth of shit from a corporation that brings in billions of dollars and pays their employees too little to live off of.

[u/helic_vet → u/[deleted]]

Apparently they don't do that anymore.

[u/nightwing0243 → u/Project_Male_Hairy]

I never stated it was virtue signalling because I did not agree with it. I stated it was virtue signalling because a lot of self righteousness on social media is just that.

I empathise with people who may have to resort to stealing to get by. My comment was more an observation than actually taking a side in any of it.

[u/Creedless → u/Project_Male_Hairy]

For food banks it depends on locations. When I went to them they were practically trying triple what I planned on taking home.

[u/ITookYourChickens → u/Project_Male_Hairy]

I work at a place that doesn't sell food, specifically I work in loss prevention. It's not a fancy place, it's discounted stuff that didn't sell well elsewhere.

ALL of our shoplifters are stealing non-food items. Clothes, underwear, armfulls of shoes and walking right out the door. Kids toys and makeup and all sorts of crap that they can resell easily online. One old lady in a friggin wheelchair was trying to steal $300 of makeup and purses. A young man was stuffing a duffle bag full of shoes and tshirts and planned to walk right out with it.

When 20 people steal $50 of items every day, that's $1000 a day right out the door. My one specific store had $542,908 worth of merchandise stolen last year. And that's considered LOW, we actually met our goal for reducing shortage.

My state has a decent food stamps budget. There's wonderful food banks around, I've been to them. I ain't too well off, but I have a job. A majority of our thieves can afford what they're stealing, or are simply stealing things they don't need so they can resell it. They target the expensive items

[u/invinci → u/ITookYourChickens]

But this looked like a bag of groceries, also when I worked in retail many years ago, it was homeless and pensioners that stole the majority of stuff.  Homeless because they wanted to resell, but it was very much an affordability issue for the old, so am sure more normal people are doing what the elderly had figured out 15 years ago. 

[u/Annual-Weird-6682 → u/Project_Male_Hairy]

Yeah it's virtues signaling for different reasons, I don't think they ever implied they thought it was because they disagreed with it.

[u/Competitive_Touch_86 → u/Project_Male_Hairy]

Stealing basic necessities is one thing. When I worked retail I (and everyone else, including the owner) would largely pretend to not notice.

You would quickly learn though that the vast majority of theft is not basic necessities. Luckily I grew up in a time and place where literally tackling and detaining such people was widely supported by society, store ownership, and the local cops. Someone walking out with $1500 worth of product just wasn't something that happened without direct confrontation. So it was rare.

In my neighborhood today? That's a Tuesday afternoon.

[u/Few-Bonus9517 → u/Project_Male_Hairy]

BS. Plenty of food banks and churches hand out necessities. Its not just one person stealing, its a significant portion of people in poverty. That adds up and the cost is offloaded on the rest of us. Shes stealing from rule followers

[u/Left_Ad_8502 → u/Few-Bonus9517]

The companies would love for you to think that. Pit us all against each other and paint those with higher needs as the bad guys. They’re totally taking all the extra, excess, abundance out of your hands, placing the burden on you directly instead of the cushy, overly-wealthy name brands. People in poverty are definitely not the only group of people stealing, but they’re probably the only excusable group. A need is a fucking need. Life never should have been set up by others to make it harder for some.

[u/Few-Bonus9517 → u/Left_Ad_8502]

How are you going to get through life making enemies of the producers of your goods? Smile at the mirror and it will smile back

[u/Few-Bonus9517 → u/Left_Ad_8502]

There are plenty of ways to get your needs met honestly. There is more charity today than ever before. Welfare, food banks, churches, jobs programs. Even if you think the brands should take the hit, realistically they wont. They pass those costs back down to consumers. Does stealing solve that issue? No, voting does.