• EnderMB@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    What?

    I’ve watched people shoplift food several times, and they weren’t poor people just looking to eat. I watched someone run out of a M&S store and into an awaiting car with a huge bag full of meat around Christmas time, probably several hundred pounds worth.

    If someone was stealing a loaf of bread or something for themselves, I didn’t see a thing, but let’s not pretend that people aren’t stealing to make some money. Lots of people steal stuff to resell, or because they’re just dicks…

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      let’s not pretend that people aren’t stealing to make some money

      When you rob one grocery store of a 10 lb brisket, its called shoplifting.

      But when you rob every grocery store of 10% of their net revenue, its called paying your shareholders a dividend.

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            For sure. And the mountain is a big one. But when you’re talking about moles digging up your garden, someone pointing to the mountain and telling how that’s much bigger than the molehills doesn’t seem that relevant.

    • SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network
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      7 months ago

      Don’t really care about some corporations losing out on their margins after nickel and diming everyone as high as they possibly can. Especially if the end result is someone or multiple people eating.

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Here they’ve had shittier protections against shoplifting, no bags to shops and whatnot because junkies kept stealing expensive meats and cheese to sell. It sucks. Here they’re even given money to live on, housing, free food and whatnot. Hasn’t stopped it.

        • SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network
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          7 months ago

          junkies

          What a disgusting dehumanizing term. Drug addiction is a much greater issue that needs more than reactionary remarks and actions to solve. A good number are literally that desperate for money because they’ll literally die from withdrawals without whatever it is they’re addicted to. And so long as they’re being non-violent then I empathize with their struggle.

          Again, I don’t at all care about some large corporate store getting stolen from. Actions like banning bags and whatnot mean little in the face of human suffering.

          • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            Narkomaani -> narkkari, narkkari -> junkie. For me it’s a shorthand rather than an attempt to make them feel bad about it.

            A good number are literally that desperate for money because they’ll literally die from withdrawals without whatever it is they’re addicted to

            We have fairly extensive benefits programs (money, housing, programs for addiction, mental health, many sorts) but the thing about drug addiction is that it drains all the money you have. That’s why so often addicts are also stealing stuff to get more money for drugs. Sucks for them but also sucks for others who get their shit stolen. Especially bikes get stolen a lot by junkies. And sucks that because of the stealing some stores are having harder time justifying the expenses, which can lead to shops closing. I don’t think it’s ever been the sole reason here but it has been one of the reasons.

            Again, I don’t at all care about some large corporate store getting stolen from. Actions like banning bags and whatnot mean little in the face of human suffering.

            It sucks as a shopper that things are worsening because of stealing. And it’s a co-op I was thinking of so it’s not really that sort of faceless corporation. I just voted in the co-op elections, actually.

            It would be easier to empathize if they were stealing to eat instead of getting more money for drugs. Or if we had the US style system where benefits and social programs barely exist. But that’s not the case.

            • SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network
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              7 months ago

              If people are stealing for drugs then it means that the system in place isn’t meeting their current needs. The problem for a lot of addicts is that they either steal and cheat for drugs or die. Withdrawals literally have the capability to kill addicts. I don’t believe in any circumstance we should be holding money ahead of human lives.

              It’s a shame when people are stolen from, but it’s a tragedy when people die. And a system that doesn’t allow an avenue for actual recovery is a failed system.

              • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                7 months ago

                If people are stealing for drugs then it means that the system in place isn’t meeting their current needs.

                I don’t know what I’d honestly add on top of what we now have in Finland. Housing, money, food programs, clean needles, addiction programs, programs to manage your life, all sort of stuff. What would you change or add?

                The problem for a lot of addicts is that they either steal and cheat for drugs or die. Withdrawals literally have the capability to kill addicts.

                We have free replacement drugs available to addicts. So you could get that for your withdrawals without having to steal. But many steal instead. Not sure how I’d change the system to get them to pick the replacement drugs instead of stealing.

                And a system that doesn’t allow an avenue for actual recovery is a failed system.

                What about the system in Finland doesn’t allow for actual recovery?

                • SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network
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                  7 months ago

                  Drugs in general are still illegal to possess and use under Finnish law. You need to decriminalize drug use before you can actually tackle it since it’s a health/psychology issue when it comes to the individual.

                  It’s hard to seek out proper help when you’re worried that you’ll be arrested/fined just for being an addict.

                  • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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                    7 months ago

                    I don’t think decriminalization has stopped the problem either, with stealing happening in places where it has been decriminalized. Like mentioned, it’s not a life or death situation here. The reason for stealing is not having enough money for drugs and unless those are given for free, I really don’t see a situation where there wouldn’t be an issue with addicts stealing to make money for drugs. We can only try to alleviate the issue, but at the point where there’s ample other opportunities for them, it’s much easier not to tolerate stealing.

                    Maybe if this was the US I’d have more sympathy. From what I’ve heard it’s a real dog eat dog world there. But here it’s not really the same.

                    It’s hard to seek out proper help when you’re worried that you’ll be arrested/fined just for being an addict.

                    Not sure how high of a bar there is in Finland for seeking help. It’s not really something you as an addict you have to seek out either, since it’s constantly promoted by social services and people working directly with the addicts and in the addict communities. So people know there is help and it’s pretty low bar and approachable. And the police really aren’t after the addicts like in many other places. Police treat them either as social cases or as a nuisance than criminals and don’t really go after them. Social stigma might be a higher barrier or cultural stuff about asking or accepting help.

                    And of course you can’t really force people to get help. I know it might be shocking to some but a lot of social workers and even ex addicts consider prison a good thing for addicts because that’s the place where finally they’ve gone into recovery programs and such. But you can’t of course just jail all addicts and push them into the programs either.

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        This isn’t Robin Hood. These are two guys that clearly wanted to steal food at a peak time to sell it elsewhere. The same number of people are eating, possibly less so because these guys are probably flogging their stolen shit in a pub somewhere and will likely dump what they can’t sell.

        This place is so weird sometimes. I don’t know if it’s a Lemmy or American thing, but this kind of stuff is pretty common in the UK…

        • SphereofWreckening@ttrpg.network
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          7 months ago

          Grocery stores dump hundred of pound of still edible food into the garbage each and every day. And no one is eating less because of thefts from the grocery store. The main reason people are starving right now is because their grocery bill spiked and extra $100-200 for absolutely no reason other than pure greed that they were able to blame on “inflation”.

          Your problem isn’t with the addicts, its with the system that is ever antagonistic towards its people. Addicts can be hard people to deal with, but they’re still people. Now obviously if they’re acting violently there’s no excuse for action like that. But if they’re just taking food why should I care?

    • arthurpizza@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      but let’s not pretend that people aren’t stealing to make some money.

      Perhaps it’s safe to say they’re poor. Poor people often don’t have enough money. Still sounds like a job of desperation.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            It’s amazing, isn’t it, that there are people out there who think that poor people enjoy it for the benefits…

            • ObjectivityIncarnate@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              Please, everyone knows the vast majority of you thieves and those cheering them on aren’t even poor, you’re just immoral scumbags who feel entitled to the things you steal. I’ve seen the subreddit, I’ve seen the Tumblr tags. You’re not fooling me, trying to mix yourselves in with those stealing because they have no other way to survive.

          • ObjectivityIncarnate@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Please, cut the crap. I’ve seen the subreddit and the Tumblr tags, I know you thieves aren’t broke, and aren’t stealing necessities. And you guys can’t even help but expose yourselves anyway, unable to resist encouraging the theft of even high-end luxury items.

            The irony is that you try to rationalize it as ‘I’m only hurting the Big Bad Soulless Corporation’, but the fact is that you’re not hurting it, you’re hurting the people who work there to survive, people who probably are much closer to being broke than you are. If shrinkage gets too high, a location isn’t just going to hang around not profiting, it’ll get closed.

            And then, of course, people like you will complain about the food desert that now exists in that area, completely unironically, because you’re just that far gone.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I watched someone run out of a M&S store and into an awaiting car with a huge bag full of meat around Christmas time, probably several hundred pounds worth.

      And yet Google tells me that M&S has a revenue of £11.93 billion.

      So why are you caring about them losing a few hundred of that?

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Because others can’t buy meat because some bellends wanted to steal it to sell during Christmas?

        I don’t give a fuck about M&S losing profit. I do give a fuck about obvious crime that puts people out…

        • KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          7 months ago

          Are you unaware of the amount of meat that gets thrown out by grocery stores? In the US, it’s billions of pounds a year.

          I highly doubt they ran out of the store with an amount that did more than make someone’s job easier that night, or force someone to pivot their dinner to a different cut of meat.

          Like, I get it. I do. It’s a lot of money, and it’s against the law. But the idea that someone is going to go hungry because of the action is ridiculous.

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, to be fair I feel like I’ve been robbed any time I get lunch there…

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        There will always be people that’ll miss the point, as some of the replies show…

    • GarlicToast@programming.dev
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      7 months ago

      You don’t know that the person owned the car. Breed is not nutrients rich. People can’t live on breed.

      • EnderMB@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        What the fuck are you talking about? They literally ran into a getaway car with their friend to leave the scene of the crime as fast as they could. You don’t steal hundreds of pounds of meat at Christmas because “you need nutrients”…

        • GarlicToast@programming.dev
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          7 months ago

          I knew a very good looking girl, she was a student while I did my B.Sc. her parents paid for her studies but nothing more. She managed to work enough to rent a very basic place.

          However, she had no problem asking people for a ride, or to take their car for a ride. She would than shoplift a lot of food, including high quality ingredients. If something went wrong she smiled and cried her self out of the troubles.

          And the stolen food? she cooked a lot and gave away most of it.

          People are weird, and you don’t know what’s going in other people’s lives. Is it possible they are trying to make profit on the back of others? Yes, can it be something else? Yes.

          • Kit@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            7 months ago

            Somehow I managed to work enough hours in college to afford both food and rent. Imagine that.

            • GarlicToast@programming.dev
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              7 months ago

              There is more than one country on Earth, different regions within a county may offer different number of available jobs and some people have different capabilities due to health issues. Imagine that.