Trump calls for the shooting of those who rob stores!

Wish the media would stop giving this clown a voice.

I'll be waiting for the first white male to walk out the door with something they bought that still has the security tag on because the shop bottom left the tag on accidentally.

[quote]California Republicans

Lol.

News flash. Trump says something stupid and reactionary.

Well, he finally same something that makes sence.

said*

Well, he tried to steal national security documents does that count? The projection on this clown.

Well, he tried to steal national security documents does that count? The projection on this clown.

Why don't we start shooting rapists instead?

If I was going to rob a store and thought the clerks had license to shoot me, I'd shoot them first, then rob and run.

Trump is an idiot, so are the idiots who use him to achieve their own stupid ends.

Is national garbage strike or something? He should have been incinerated long ago.

Look at all that TAT in OP's photo! That's the real story here.

R5 Shut up. You aren't even literate, let alone intelligible.

[quote][R5] Shut up

No, thank you! Now, don't you have some stores to rob?

DL's numerous, racist KKKlan Grannies (like R5) are cumming all over their computer screens as I type.

So original, r14.

Shooting looters on sight after an emergency (earthquake, blackout) is not a new thing.

r16 Martial law during an emergency isn't a new thing either, what's your point? That we should normalise what happens during emergencies?

We would be saving ourselves a great deal of drama if we applied the same standards to government documents. I’m all for upping the stakes for a firing squad resolution for a guilty verdict. Right now he’s stewing over whether the orange jumpsuit will clash with his skin tone!

Rep 5: Of course you realize the odds of this happening are about the same as a roomful of monkeys typing away and producing a novel.

Cassidy said in her book that Trump can deal with anything that is said about him but what he can't deal with is being ignored. If they would stop giving him a platform maybe he would go away.

This is a mainstream idea. Maybe not in the bubble, but certainly elsewhere.

R20

The media should ignore the man who is dominating his parties nominating process for President? And at this point is very likely to be his parties nominee. Do you really think this is the world you live in or should live in?

This coming from the piece of shit Trump who attempted to loot my duly cast, non-fraudulent vote for Joseph Robinette Biden to be the POTUS along with those of 83,000,000 of my fellow Americans.

I wish he would croak.

We need to be much tougher on all crimes. Build a shit ton of prisons. Hire more judges and lawyers. Lock these criminals away for longer. Give repeat offenders the death penalty. Get some control back. Fucking idiots.

Funny, I think people who take part in insurrections should be shot.

Shooting those that loot is not a new idea.

He’s just pissed that the stores that sell his maga shit hasn’t been robbed.

I wish he would STFU and just go away. Why don’t people call to have T…p shot.

“When the looting starts, the shooting starts!”

How about the shooting of those who commit bank fraud, filing bogus tax returns, steal top secret government files, try to overturn an election, and attempt a coup?

If a person who steals from a store deserves to be shot, what do we do to the person who is guilty of all the above????

[quote]We need to be much tougher on all crimes. Build a shit ton of prisons. Hire more judges and lawyers. Lock these criminals away for longer. Give repeat offenders the death penalty. Get some control back. Fucking idiots.

The problem is that the people committing these crimes are almost always black. So any attempt to get tougher on them is immediately met with “RACISM”.

R32 = Donald J Trump

R16, I think a coordinated, city-wide attack on multiple businesses constitutes an emergency. It is urban warfare.

I mean if we're shooting criminals specifically thieves now maybe we should start with him.

r5/ r6 - sence? Try harder, troll.

And the cult cheers.

I'd like to hear from the people who are against this proposal and if they are against it just because Trump is for it.

R36, try paying for things instead of looting, criminal.

R31 Definitely! The white collar criminals should be punished to the maximum. No excuses, Do the crime. Do the time. Cameras everywhere.

""I asked a man in prison once how he happened to be there and he said he had stolen a pair of shoes. I told him if he had stolen a railroad he would be a United States Senator."

-- Mary Harris (Mother) Jones, 1881.

r38 how about being against it because it's essentially fascist? Is that a good enough reason for you?

Why not shoot those who commit white collar crimes? Wage theft? Tax evasion? Why isn't he calling for their shootings? Because in the long run, those crimes are more damaging to society.

Dump can't die soon enough for my liking.

JFC at all the tacky crap in OP's link. I'll bet it's not cheap either.

We should shoot seditious liars, too.

I think it's time for the Purge films to come to life.

The audience must all have had a giant communal orgasm, when he described that Republican visual reaction porn.

Rep 24:

Gracie Allen response: "That's just silly. Former President Trump isn't a frog!"

R38, no piece of property is worth a human life. What’s so hard to understand about that?

I'm calling for the shooting of insurrectionists and those who encourage and organize insurrectionists. Let's start there. How about that R38?

[quote]no piece of property is worth a human life.

That's the deterrent value. The thief has to ask themself if stealing the property is worth their life. Hopefully, they decide it's not and they don't try to steal.

Does someone what to take a stab explaining what specific value a criminal's life has for society? Tell us the specific benefit their life brings to humanity.

what = want

Ask Dump R52. He's a life long criminal and grifter who never pays his bills and most of his business ventures end up in bankruptcy.

They have proven that the death penalty does not deter people from committing murder so why would this deter them from stealing? How low have we become that now we just want to kill anyone who breaks a law?

[quote]Well, he finally same something that makes sence.

[quote] said*

senSe.

[quote] what's your point? That we should normalise what happens during emergencies?

Certain cities are in a constant emergency

R55 Bullshit. OF COURSE, the death penalty deters people from committing murder. It's common sense. BUT it's also data that's difficult to accumulate.

As for Trump, this is the ONLY thing he's shitted out that I've EVER been in agreement. We definitely need harsher penalties for this shit. It's absurd to ENABLE people to walk into a store and steal everything in sight without interference.

I'm as liberal as they come BUT I stand by an "eye for an eye."

[quote] OF COURSE, the death penalty deters people from committing murder.

It certainly makes ensures they don't do it again

the consensus among criminologists is that the death penalty does not add any significant deterrent effect above that of long-term imprisonment.”Sep 20, 2021

The monetary value of the taxes gone unpaid and the millions of dollars stolen from tenants and contractors working for Trump would far eclipse the value of even thousands of shoplifters and looters.

You can agree that Trump is a criminal and should be prosecuted for unpaid taxes and multiple other types of theft, while also seeing that consequences need to be harsher for people who loot and steal from stores.

I don't think most people disagree with the concept of some sort of punishment for stealing from stores, but I also think that most people would agree that shooting is a tad too harsh.

The Dems need to get ahold of this law and order issue and stores in the city can operate without brazen thriving and citizens can feel safe shopping there..

Because if we don’t, then don’t cry at election time , because that issue has come and bitten the Dems in the ass.

We don’t have to be for shooting unarmed looters. But we could stand tall for safety and stability.

Otherwise it’s an issue we give to the gop and they will run with it as they should. It’s a gift. And before Democracy and lower gas prices citizens want to be safe.

The Dems are stuck with issue because they’ve fully gotten on board with the “police are targeting blacks” narrative. Instead of admitting the truth that blacks commit a disproportionate amount of crime, the solution is “police have to stop arresting anyone”.

Theft on any scale is not a Capital crime........

EXCEPT FOR THE TYPE WE ALL HAVE WITNESSED WAS COMMITTED BY TRUMP:

Stealing TOP-SECRET federal government documents to transfer to US enemies (he wasn't hoarding them for fun. Trump doesn't do fun. He does money.)

[quote] The Dems are stuck with issue because they’ve fully gotten on board with the “police are targeting blacks” narrative

Speaking of democrat politicians more concerned with protecting criminals than protecting the public, here is another example

r65 I think you've missed your Klan meeting.

Crime everywhere (not just in the US) is a result of poverty and gross income inequality, not skin color. But black people are disproportionally POOR in the US - partly because of comments such as yours being internalized by employers and others who could change the narrative.

[quote]But black people are disproportionally POOR in the US - partly because of comments such as yours being internalized by employers and others who could change the narrative.

It’s always someone else’s fault. It’s never about personal responsibility.

r69, so please explain why crime rates are high in EVERY country among the poorest groups of citizens, no matter their skin color? Or are you trying to pretend that this is not universally true?

How about instead of shooting looters they are punished with some jail time? Just a suggestion.

As in the 50 or so looters that have been arrested in Philadelphia this week?

Do Dlers really buy the KoolAid spouted by FOX news that looters and shoplifters are never arrested in cities in blue states?

Judging by what I'm reading in this thread, apparently they do.

Let me know when the looters arrested actually spend time in jail. Also info about any additional crimes they commit while out on bail.

Arrests with no meaningful consequences accomplish nothing

Let’s just agree that the worry about out of control crime is something the GOP will own come election time.

If you think the election is going to be a big dem blowout win then don’t worry bout this at all. It’s a different story if you fear a close election,

This liberal hand winger and excuse making that it’s only property so not a big deal does not sell to the American voters.

What if a group of looters broke into your home and robbed you. Assuming you were insured would it be no big deal? It’s just about private property. Should they be punished or just allowed to go free?

This can't be real. I know him. He doesn't say things like this. He doesn't think like this.

[quote]I'll be waiting for the first white male to walk out the door with something they bought that still has the security tag on because the shop bottom left the tag on accidentally.

I know what you mean, R2, and I agree.

But "shop bottom"?

Where are these shops? I'd love to be a top customer in them!

R75 You are correct. This election is going to focus on crime and immigration. If the Dems don't get some momentum going cracking down in major cities, they will lose. People have had enough. Try stepping outside of your liberal echo chamber and listen to other people. I think you will learn something. You may not like what you hear. But if you dismiss them, you have already lost.

Joe Biden should be proud of the 1994 crime bill he and Clinton got signed into law. And Kamala Harris was tough on crime when she was a DA and Attorney General. But you’ll never hear either of them talk about. Harris was forced to apologize for doing her job during the last election in order to avoid the woke backlash.

R79

Crime, Immigration, Abortion

But the liberal bubble sees crime and illegal immigration one way the rest of the country another.

Abortion is mixed but on this one the Dems have the most wind at their back.

R60 Perhaps these criminologists are preserving their jobs. No crime? No need for criminologists.

[quote]How about instead of shooting looters they are punished with some jail time? Just a suggestion.

Jail is too harsh, let them loot!

Any one piece of property is not worth a life, true. But law and order and a safe country is worth many lives. Americans have fought other countries and died for just that. Perhaps we need to focus on making ourselves better. And if that mean shooting looters? So be it.

Don't lull yourself into a Rethugs vs Libtard mindset either. Crime is something that EVERYONE feels strongly about and don't assume they follow party lines.

Abortion is a winning issue for Dems.

But crime and immigration are losers, and Dems continue to dig in further with their unpopular positions.

[quote]Shooting looters on sight after an emergency (earthquake, blackout) is not a new thing.

It looks like shooting looters after a natural disaster is a myth. Robbery isn't a capital crime.

R58 - seriously? An “eye for an eye” to you means shooting and killing someone who steals a TV? Because that’s literally what you’re supporting here. I’d really hate to live in your world.

We can't allow stealing at all. Why is that so hard for you to understand R88? Yes, if someone is stealing a TV they should be shot and stopped. If they die, they die. If they survive, they can spend a very long time in jail. No early release. No shortened sentences. Hard core punishment.

Crime and Homelessness will be the major issues in the next few elections. While this is extreme, it also is feeding the extreme anger people are feeling about these issues. Democrats will continue with progressive politics at their own risk.

Let’s call for the shooting of those who try to steal elections, which is clearly infinitely worse, no?

You get a free TV, you get a free TV, and you, and you, and you...!!!!!!

R90: do you ever get tired of posting your same old bullshit trope in every thread of this type? JFC, do something original for once, you fucking lazy ass bitch troll.

You're also merely stating an opinion, an opinion that has nothing to do with reality and facts. Learn to distinguish between the two.

But take heart: confusing facts and opinions is a hallmark of stupid morons, so you'll fit right in with today's Republican party.

Detroit 1967 was not just being looted by 1000s at one time it was also being burned. Romney sent in the national guard and Johnson sent in the Army and they instilled order in no time. They also shot quite a few dead. About 50 +/-.

All in all over 1100 were injured during about a 6 day period.. In June 1967 Detroit was far far more Dangerous than DaNang city VN was for Americans.

And the Dems today have two of the biggest law and order types in the WH now , based on past experiences not just talk, but hardly anyone knows that because the WH can’t afford to trigger and upset the progressive wing of the party.

Sorry, call me a libtard all you want, but I gotta back away from this thread. That some of you would shoot to kill for theft is beyond disturbing and disgusting, especially when the same MAGA mindset would shoot and kill gay people for being gay. Not stretching, just knowing my enemy as well as the bounds of human decency.

[quote] Any one piece of property is not worth a life, true.

The person who owns the property is not giving up their life to protect the property. If they kill the robber in the act, they are keeping themselves and their home or business safe..

The punishment needs to be appropriate for the crime. If a shoplifter has a first offense they should be arrested and booked accordingly. The judgement should be based on the amount they stole. If it is petit theft, they should probably not get jail, but it goes on their record, and if they repeat more thefts, than the total amounts of each occurrence should be combined if it goes over $1,000 then it is generally considered grand larceny and they should likely get jail time. Common sense laws and prosecution.

[quote] How about instead of shooting looters they are punished with some jail time? Just a suggestion.

Most criminals are not going to be killed in action and so, if caught and prosecuted, which is a big “if”, they could be sentenced to jail. It would be not all the one or all the other.

[quote]If it is petit theft, they should probably not get jail, but it goes on their record, and if they repeat more thefts…

If they repeat more thefts, then the first corrective action wasn’t sufficient. The first theft should receive harsh treatment and a good amount of prison, to deter and to convince criminals of the seriousness of their actions.

...And THAT'S the problem with these threads. They attract the creepy DL racist who stares at his screen waiting for threads like these to pop up so that he can shit on Blacks and liberals. MEANWHILE, people are looting in the great white state of Florida--where "Woke comes to die" during hurricanes.

You're right, R89. If a teenager steals a chocolate bar, he should be shot and killed.

R100

It’s an election issue. Ask the people who live in San Fransisco if it’s an election issue. One would have to be terminally stupid not to see it as an election issue.

Some of us are concerned about wining the election not being progressively perfect on all those same issues.

Moderates , those still in the center, the independents who may lean left or right , want to see the progressives in charge just about as much as they want to see MAGA in charge.

Neither fit to govern.

You can easily tell the troll posts on this thread.

They have numerous W&Ws as soon as they're posted, for posts for are neither wise nor witty.

See R90. See R102.

R193

Instead of naming calling how about an intelligent well thought out argument why we are wrong. And if you can’t do that then by all means stay with your snark and name calling instead.

Of course he does.

It should be very interesting to see what R193 has to say, since we are still 90 responses away, R104.

Obviously, basic math is not your forte. And having an intelligent conversation with a troll is an oxymoron, moron.

R91 ALL CRIMINALS should be punished more severely. We don't have to decide between punishing the looter and the election stealer. Both get punished. See how that works?

R95 You sound confused. Shooting at a criminal caught in the act of a violent or destructive crime is a no no because it will lead to gays being shot for no reason? Honey, it doesn't work that way. However, if you wear white after Labor Day, I might have to shoot you myself.

How about shooting CEOs who steal from workers? And who ok production of dangerous products like cars that easily explode or cut out on the highway? Or claim somebody will get a fully self driving car after they pay for the option if fully self driving, then charge them more money to activate the self driving system which is really just assistive driving? Isn’t that fraud? Isn’t fraud theft?

How about shooting people who steal from children’s charities?

And who cheat on their taxes while lying on loan applications. That’s theft. That’s fraud.

How about lying about a building, claiming it has 12 more floors than it actually has?

And fuck Ed Koch who let Trump get away with murder in NYC

R109 Shoot! Bang bang. But you better be right and a good shot.

I’m ok with tranquilizing darts.

R109, do you have any comment about shooting criminals when they are robbing stores?

Perhaps we should shoot those who persuade an elector to give a presidential candidate more votes. I’m just saying.

It wouldn’t be a free-for-all. Obviously, there would be rules for when it would lawful to shoot a criminal in the act of robbing to stop him and when it would not be lawful.

[quote] do you have any comment about shooting criminals when they are robbing stores?

Yes.

I grew up in a country where people who robbed stores weren’t shot as long as they weren’t brandishing a weapon.

We should shoot traitors to our country and those who attempt coups. Just line 'em up against a convenient wall and kill every fucking one of them.

We should shoot those who steal our secrets and take them home in boxes.

In all fairness Mr. President you did say you could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and get away with it so maybe ghetto youth reasoned petty robbery was small potatoes.

Shoot kids for stealing sneakers? No.

Killing people for simple theft of property is fucking retarded and beneath decent people.

More Red Meat for the Neanderthal MAGA crowd. Who's surprised? They can barely use anything beyond a Monosyllabic to actually resolve anything.

Shooting looters is just savage.

Just cut their hands off.

Cdcn had a blind that a "group" Paid these people to loot. We need to find out Who the group is.

During the Rodney King riots, Korean store owners were brandishing guns and shooting at people who attempted to rob their stores. It captured attention then and it will again.

Isn’t there some kind of happy, relaxing gas the police could use on perps instead of shooting them? Like the opium poppies in The Wizard of Oz?

R123

Tasers and rubber bullets for starters.

Because, r71, TFFG loves violence and death---to and of others.

R76, You don't mention summary execution---the topic.

This is where we are heading. If the police aren't able/empowered to fight crime, citizens will happily take on the task as vigilantes. Everyone is armed. Look at our cities now. And it gets worse month after month.

[quote] If the police aren't able/empowered to fight crime, citizens will happily take on the task

That’s why laws need to be updated so good citizens are not penalized for dealing with criminals who are in the process of stealing.

JFC, some of you fucking Neanderthals need to be put to sleep to put yourselves out of your misery. I have a feeling that many, many of the dickheads here would have volunteered for duty to dump the Zyclon B into the gas chambers, just for the thrill of it.

Capital punishment for stealing a god damned television set or a new weave? Really? Are you kidding me?

And once again, Trump and the Republicans are guilty of massive projection.

R129, if you can’t tell the difference between innocent people and criminals who steal, maybe you’re the one who needs putting out of their misery.

And yet the cult thinks Trump is a "person of faith" .... more so than Mike Pence, Mitt Romney, Joe Biden et al.

Right now R129 is watching her new TV while wearing her brand new weave.

What’s brilliant is that the same moral decay that has led to this “increase” in theft by hopeless youth, is the same moral decay that’s led to out of control wage theft and corporate greed. Both are based on a nihilistic belief that being “good” or “nice” is weak and we that we must take advantage of those around us to get the most out of life. Religion used to temper that nihilism, but we only worship money in America. The only endpoint for a secular society with uncontrolled capitalism is open violence. We are already on the way to Mad Max dystopia because we already hate the shit out of each other.

[quote]so please explain why crime rates are high in EVERY country among the poorest groups of citizens, no matter their skin color? Or are you trying to pretend that this is not universally true?

R70 has again invented a data point. He has zero evidence of the crime rate of poor people of color vs crime rate of poor whites in any country.

Every success is based on action, but every action starts with a thought. That's why every worthwhile accomplishment starts with a change in perspective, or a new connection, or a renewed sense of purpose and motivation.

AMEN!! Looters should be shot.

"if you can’t tell the difference between innocent people and criminals who steal, maybe you’re the one who needs putting out of their misery."

Those innocent people were considered criminals in the eyes of German laws, laws enacted by overly zealous law and order types who were looking for scapegoats on which to blame the disorder in German society. In the German penal system, these people were considered even lower than common criminals. The children of those innocent people were killed too, because in the eyes of those Nazi law and order fanatics, if you didn't kill them when they were kids, in 30 years those children would grow up to kill Nazis. And under German law, this was all perfectly legal.

With Donald Trump openly wanting General Milley to be killed, saying looters should be killed, and Ron DeSantis wanting to slit the throats of government employees beginning on day one if he were to be elected to office, even a sanctimonious twat like you can see it would not need to be a very slippery or steep slope before fanatics started rounding up and killing innocent people in the name of "national security" and "law and order."

Cut off a hand.

- Islamic Justice

I think we should let everyone steal and then complain when the prices get too high, and the remaining stores are all only out in suburbia.

r137, I figured you would try to obfuscate by going down that path. That's specifically why I added "who steal". If someone is in the act of looting/stealing, they are not an innocent person and their action is not "considered" criminal; it is criminal, in all societies. So again, you can't seem to tell the difference between innocent people and criminals who steal. You're the problem.

There used to be something called police who would arrest thieves. If found guilty of theft (depending on the seriousness of the theft) they would go to jail. No need for citizens to kill them. Can we just return to those past times?

Here in Westwood, there has been a rash of robberies and home invasions. Lots of RING videos. Neighbors were so fed up with lack of police action (and Gascon is also a big topic) they have armed themselves and have started a shooting club.

[quote] MEANWHILE, people are looting in the great white state of Florida--where "Woke comes to die" during hurricanes.

What's your point ?

[quote]please explain why crime rates are high in EVERY country among the poorest groups of citizens, no matter their skin color? Or are you trying to pretend that this is not universally true? [/quote]

It is not universally true.

From the article below:

[quote]...among middle class neighborhoods, the rate of gun homicides is more than four times higher in neighborhoods with mostly Black residents than neighborhoods with mostly white residents.

I’m the poster who volunteers in a jail.

Those of you calling for shooting for this are the real animals, not the looters. If you want to talk about WHY people steal, I’m more than willing to talk about solutions. But the conversation needs to include a dynamic discussion on *why* people steal. If it’s important enough that you advocate for killing, shouldn’t the root causes of this twisted behavior be a true discussion? But I know you don’t have the balls.

So I’ll go anyway — the WHY is poverty, lack of education, gangs, addiction, mental health issues, and the biggest one of all….no Hope. I am totally capable of discussing criminal penalties, but not without simultaneously understanding mass incarceration and how it affects our country. I also refuse to engage in your dehumanization of the people who do this. Each one of them has a name and a story, and I promise you their ACES scores will be high high high. I also promise you that they are the poorest of the poor (the looters). Our country needs to come to grips with poverty. Our kids go hungry, and these families who bounce in and out of the prison system have zero resources for help.

I am personally close to former gang-bangers who are trying to turn their lives around. They grew up with nothing, many in the projects, some have mothers who were heroin addicted prostitutes, one guy has a mother who broke his nose when he was 12 (he was already an alcoholic by then). One year while his mother was “disappeared” he realized there would be no Christmas presents for his siblings. So you know what he did, at 13? He decided to sell some drugs he had (from mom) and then used that money to go to Walgreens to buy his siblings their Christmas presents. True story. But do you not hear his humanity? Yes, he committed crimes, but coming from that life, how could he not? The truth is that so many of the poor will make choices that are not healthy for them, and without any support in their lives, things like stealing and robbing to say feed or drug habit or just to eat become actual choices that people make. And that includes looting. When you come from nothing and you have nothing and you know your future is an ugly joke, why the fuck not loot? Get it? I’m not condoning, only explaining how the stereotypical looter likely thinks. It’s actually similar to how the MAGATS invaded our Capital, they too were filled with people who have nothing and see no hope. It makes it easy to say fuck it.

I do not like that corporations are firing retail staff who confront thieves, that feels equally unfair. But I disagree that looters should do serious time, no fucking way. If you saw the inside of a county jail, you wouldn’t wish it on your worst enemy. Looting is a problem, yes — but recognizing that it’s a problem doesn’t mean that the only solution is incarceration. I think California trying to create “care court” where mentally ill people are pressured into complying with their meds and if they don’t, a judge can now rule they go into conservatorship, is one of the most promising tools for homelessness in a long time. This new court will also give space to families to speak up too. I’m just saying, mass incarceration is real, and the sign of a healthy society is that we don’t view imprisonment as the only solution! Looting is fucked up, but it also is a petty crime, sorry kids.

There are other tools that can be leveraged to encourage better choices, including a similar court system to what CA is rolling out. Use Conservatorship, obligatory mental health support/check-ins, life skill classes on topics like entrepreneurship/small business strategies, house arrest, community service projects, public speaking, mentoring at-risk youth. Prevention, proximity, presence, and being proactive, all of these improve outcomes for the poor in America. We need to stop locking people up, BUT we need better tools for retail theft right now, and police need to do more.

More pro-criminal revolving door policy in Los Angeles

I’m for whacking off the dick of a pedophile. Or sewing up a woman’s vagina for being a pedophile. Let’s deal with EVERYONE!

For r134 and r144: By THE DATA TEAM

FIFTY years ago Gary Becker, a Nobel prize-winning economist, advanced an argument that all crime is economic and all criminals are rational. Becker’s seminal paper, “Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach” posited that would-be criminals make a cost-benefit assessment of the likely rewards from breaking the law against the probability of being caught and punished. In Becker’s world of utility-maximising miscreants, places that have larger gaps between the poor (the would-be criminals) and the rich (the victims) will, all other things being equal, have higher crime.

A new survey by Gallup, a polling organisation, appears to go some way to verifying Becker’s theory. It asked 148,000 people in 142 countries about their perceptions of crime and how safe they feel across four measures: whether they trust the local police; whether they feel safe walking home alone; if they have had property or money stolen; and whether they have been assaulted over the past year. Testing the correlation between these questions and the amount of income inequality (as measured by the Gini coefficient) in any given country shows a strong and positive relationship (see chart above).

Whether people feel safe walking home alone or not shows the strongest relationship with inequality. In Venezuela, for example, four-fifths of respondents said they do not feel safe walking home alone—kidnappings and extortion are a common occurrence in the country. Its income distribution is the 19th-most unequal in the study. In contrast, fully 95% of people in Norway said they feel safe walking home alone. Sure enough, it is 12th most equal country of the 142.

These simple relationships do not account for all of the differences in people’s perceptions of crime levels. Others have since expanded upon Becker’s theory to take into account how much the rich show off their wealth. In a study published in 2014, Daniel Hicks at the University of Oklahoma and Joan Hamory Hicks at the University of California in Berkeley demonstrated that over a 20-year period, the American states that had the greatest inequality in visible expenditure—spending on items such as clothing, jewellery, cars, and eating out—also suffered the most from violent crime. So if you’ve got it, don’t flaunt it—especially if your neighbours don’t have it.

r134 in particular - does data from 142 countries satisfy your need for me to demonstrate "datapoints"?

Not only in the US.

Is Dark Money funding looting to hasten repression or even shootings?

Or crime syndicates, with whom TFFG is intimately familiar:

R149

Dark money? You may be on to something I heard similar from my buddy Q.

I told that moron Q that criminals have been organizing since there were criminals. And Dark Money had nothing to do with that.

And if dozens show up in San Fransisco tomorrow to loot one of the stores still open that also will be organized. Word of mouth or the Internet or by text. Safety in numbers, you have more safety and help, you have less chance of being caught, you make off with more loot. It better than one lone crook who might get their ass beat

But good for you and your attempt to blame this looting on some one other than the looters.

Obviously I don't support shooting people and also Trump is an idiot. But can anyone who defends organized theft and lootings by groups explain what good it will do? Also, did any of you work in retail while their store was raided?

Right now Trump is planning a move that will deflate a major Dem arguing point against the GOP. That it is fundamentally racist. Just watch when he picks his VP.

The Dems should counter and take this pro crime argument away from the GOP. Biden should have VP Harris make a major address to the nation talking about an anti urban crime initiative for cities under siege a grants program for the hiring, training, and equipping police depts. Andorran needed the National Guard, much of the new training in non lethal ways to stop looters in their tracks.

Also include youth training programs as well. Maybe a modern day CCC.

This looting is not just hurting the stores it’s sowing doubt on our institutions ability to govern and offer basic protections. It’s destabilizing .

Real or not this is going to be a major election issue.

The Dems need to say we do not support lawlessness . And we are the ones doing something about it in a constructive, non killing everyone way.

It’s not like those looters are going to be voters anyway. Appeal to the voters. Unless of course you are more interested in holding to progressive principals than wining elections.

Capitalists are so obsessed with growing the population, but have no idea how to manage it beyond simply extracting labor value from the poor. It’s a tired old song and dance from a culturally bankrupt, elderly government. The dinosaurs need to go extinct already.

R152, no one is defending looting, that’s a ridiculous argument. Some of us do object to having random people open fire on crowds in a store or on the street.

No, r148. The reply in r69 was directed toward something that r69 said, and entirely missed the point r69 was making.

The reply in r148 also misses the point, as it discusses perceptions of crime levels, not actual crime levels, nor the point r69 was making about responsibility. However, it’s a very interesting piece, thanks for the link.

[quote] Some of us do object to having random people open fire on crowds in a store or on the street.

I’m sure any laws allowing the use of firearms to stop a robbery in progress would define who is justified to do it, so that it is not a “random” person. Likewise, the thieves and looters would be defined as well, so it wouldn’t be just “crowds in a store or on the street”. Hopefully, that satisfies your objections.

R151, Oh, I blame the looters. Free will and all that.

But I'm also not naive about the political aims of billionaires and what they are prepared to do, like denying Internet access to Ukraine. Yeah, that sounds out there, doesn't it? And yet, Musk.

Maybe there is a middle ground between murdering shoplifters and letting them do what they want.

R159, yes there is. Citizens are supposed to report criminals to police, who represent the state, and then the state is supposed to deal with them according to the laws that the citizens' representatives have made. This is commonly called "law and order."

When the state refuses to prosecute crimes, there is a risk of vigilantism, and worse, a furious citizenry ready to elect dangerous demagogues who promise to be tough on crime and restore the rule of law.

Sadly, for so many people, it's more important to pat themselves on the back about their progressive values than it is to prevent eventual Fascism. Oh well. History is a pendulum. I wish I had been born at a time when it wasn't swinging so violently.

R159, reason has no place on this thread, apparently.

These mobs of shoplifters are not feral manifestations of criminal pathology--they are employees of organized criminals. One mastermind, who was arrested in NYC last year, was a pawnshop owner. He was in an ideal position to recruit people who needed money, and he could plausibly pass as a reseller on Amazon. There is always a problem when the "real" criminals are people higher in the food chain. They appear to be respectable and have connections to other criminals who also operate under a facade of respectability. They don't personally commit violent acts; they pay other people to do that. As a result, they are in a better position to persuade people to look the other way when they commit crimes.

Remember that mass løoting in Phi!adelphia last week? The thread about it got dėleted, but here's a fun update that seems relevant:

Here’s what [ringleader "Meatball's" lawyer Jessica] Mann had to say:

[quote]I write this open letter with a profound sense of outrage and frustration over the unjust portrayal of my client, Dayjia Blackwell. It sickens me to witness the media’s complicity in what can only be described as an all-out assault on black and brown people, as their character and actions are mercilessly vilified. We cannot afford to disregard this insidious injustice.

[quote]Dayjia Blackwell, a vibrant and charismatic 21-year-old African-American female, was catapulted into the limelight through her incredible talent for creating hilarious and captivating content on social media. With her infectious energy and boundless creativity, Dayjia has captured the hearts of thousands, leaving a trail of laughter and joy in her wake.

[quote]Her videos, filled with silly skits and uproarious pranks, showcase her unique ability to bring smiles to the faces of all who encounter her work. Dayjia’s infectious enthusiasm knows no bounds, and she fearlessly dives into each performance with an unwavering commitment to entertain and uplift her audience....

Target says it will partner "the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) division to combat retail theft."

Not sure what that will entail.

Who is the REAL CRIMINAL LOOTER???!

Logan: Gotta hand it to him, Lennie; Trump is one helluva con man.

Briscoe: Inject some bleach and get back to me, Mike.

Curtis: Deborah lit a candle in church yesterday for Trump’s eternal soul.

Briscoe: I don't know about any soul, Rey, but his corpus delicti is about to result in quite the fire sale.

Green: Damn, Lennie! AC should give that high-rollin' mothergambler his own casino!

Briscoe: Um, Ed?

Ah, I see, R164. Criminal looters are like the Highlander: There Can Be Only One!

[quote] Dayjia Blackwell, a vibrant and charismatic 21-year-old African-American female, was catapulted into the limelight through her incredible talent for creating hilarious and captivating content on social media. With her infectious energy and boundless creativity, Dayjia has captured the hearts of thousands, leaving a trail of laughter and joy in her wake.

That’s on par with the people on this thread who want to give looters a hug instead of seeing them face the consequences of their actions, and who say that the criminals are just misunderstood.

Didn't say that, r165. And I'm not a Sam Stan, either, sorry.

Just pointing out that, like many crimes, there are levels and degrees. I place someone like Trump pretty near the "Theft" apex; handbag thieves, not so high.

Note how I also did not say only one level should face punishment. Commensurate punishment.

R167, you said:

[quote]Who is the REAL CRIMINAL LOOTER???!

Suggesting that there is only one -- not A real criminal, but THE real criminal.

And suggesting that because Trump is a criminal looter, others are not.

Another pathetic attempt to derail a thread that happens to be about a topic you don't like. We're onto you. And no one falls for the bullshit any more -- "if you mention another criminal, then you are denying Trump's crimes."

Most of us can hold more than one thought in our heads at one time. Get detoxed, and perhaps you will be able to do the same.

These animals are setting people on fire now. Do what you have to do to defend yourself.

[quote] There is always a problem when the "real" criminals are people higher in the food chain. They appear to be respectable and have connections to other criminals who also operate under a facade of respectability.

Don't knock it. Partnering with Lucky Luciano is how I paid for Jack's election.

"According to a 2014 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 77.5 percent of shoplifters are White, significantly above their 59 percent of the national population. Only 8 percent of shoplifters are Black and only another 8 percent are Latino, well below their shares of the national population. That study said, “Shoplifting was significantly more common in individuals with at least some college education, among those with individual incomes over $35,000 and family incomes over $70,000.”"

"In a 2013 interview on National Public Radio, Rutgers University marketing professor Jerome Williams said, “About 70 percent of all the shoplifting in this country is done by whites. And in fact, if you look at store shrinkage or loss, most of the loss is done by employees and not by customers. And in some states where we’ve looked at the data, what we call the modal group that’s most likely to shoplift is white women in their 40s and 50s.”"

- yahoo

[quote]And in some states where we’ve looked at the data, what we call the modal group that’s most likely to shoplift is white women in their 40s and 50s.

I trust that a loss prevention person could apprehend such a person and prevent them from leaving the store with stolen merchandise. It's the solitary brutes or a gang of thieves that would require the good guys to have an equalizer.