What is to blame for/the cause of the recent spate of robberies and looting and ransacking of businesses in America?

[WalterSlovotsky]

Just interested to hear your thoughts on this.

Even better if you have a solution to offer.

 

[The Catboy]

You aren't going to get the best solutions on a video game forum. Seems like most of the causes can be linked to poverty, distrust in the failing system, and the feeling ignored/unheard. People often have their own personal reasons that require listening to them more on an individual basis though.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

Yeah, I just like to get people's input on it. I blame most of this bullshit on internet society in the first place. I don't think most of these kids are out there except because it's something to go Live with, or try to be Insta-famous. I don't think most of them were criminals at all, and it's peer pressure and pursuing online clout. Granted, it's all still awful, and completely stupid of them to do, but I don't think any of them ever wake up and are like "Let's get the fam together and go ransack Target".

I blame TikTok more than anything else. Kids need to just get the fuck off the internet and go pet a puppy and touch grass and feel sunshine.

 

[The Catboy]

Yeah, I just like to get people's input on it. I blame most of this bullshit on internet society in the first place. I don't think most of these kids are out there except because it's something to go Live with, or try to be Insta-famous. I don't think most of them were criminals at all, and it's peer pressure and pursuing online clout. Granted, it's all still awful, and completely stupid of them to do, but I don't think any of them ever wake up and are like "Let's get the fam together and go ransack Target".

I blame TikTok more than anything else. Kids need to just get the fuck off the internet and go pet a puppy and touch grass and feel sunshine.

I really can't blame everything on the internet because these issues were happening long before the internet. There are videos, new reports, and much more from the 80s and 90s. I think it's just more available due to the internet, so more people are exposed to it. Coupled with the fact that all sides are using footage to push their own agenda, it's pretty hard to escape it compared to the past.

 

[supermist]

Republicans. See attachment. Poverty going up has historically resulted in crime going up.

Not to mention that crime went down when Roe V Wade passed in the 1970s. Now that it's repealed, crime spiking is not a surprise. We can blame Republicans for that too.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

Republicans. See attachment. Poverty going up has historically resulted in crime going up.

Not to mention that crime went down when Roe V Wade passed in the 1970s. Now that it's repealed, crime spiking is not a surprise. We can blame Republicans for that too.

This causes hordes of teenagers to ransack and loot Apple stores while giggling and recording it to post online?

Republicans are causing kids who know nothing about politics to rob jewelry stores?

Please make it make sense.

 

[supermist]

This causes hordes of teenagers to ransack and loot Apple stores while giggling and recording it to post online?

Republicans are causing kids who know nothing about politics to rob jewelry stores?

Please make it make sense.

You're cherry picking here whereas I responded to the opening post which was broad and not specific to a specific incident.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

You're cherry picking here whereas I responded to the opening post which was broad and not specific to a specific incident.

I am just wondering what a political party has to do with people's direct actions.

I don't think anyone is reading the news on their phone, they read about a specific vote that just went down and says, "You know what? Fuck it. This gun control bill not passing means I need to go rob a Nordstrom's."

"I do not like this latest legislation. Time to rob an Apple store."

Please make it make sense.

I think it's a combination of kids being horrible little shits like they always have been, except now you can become famous online with the right video. There is nothing most teenagers fear more than having their phone taken away from them, because they are literally addicted. It LITERALLY causes the same withdrawal symptons as opiod withdrawal, multiple studies have shown.

And that accounts for the underaged anarchy. The adults? I think it's simply because a lot of states have enacted laws or suspended others that practically provide an incentive for criminals to steal. If there is no chance of being arrested or charged, why bother following the law that isn't strong enough to deter negative behavior?

This is why department stores keep getting hit over and over by the same people, KNOWING the cops won't arrest them unless they hit a specific dollar amount. I don't think that's the right step for a better America. I believe all thieves should face accountability, and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Why else have laws against thievery in the first place, if everyone gets a pat on the bum, and an "Off you go, you little scamp!"?

 

[supermist]

I am just wondering what a political party has to do with people's direct actions.

I don't think anyone is reading the news on their phone, they read about a specific vote that just went down and says, "You know what? Fuck it. This gun control bill not passing means I need to go rob a Nordstrom's."

"I do not like this latest legislation. Time to rob an Apple store."

Please make it make sense.

I explained it. When poverty goes up, crime goes up. I've posted evidence of Republicans shooting down bills which results in poverty going up, and the increase of unwanted pregnancies is another contributing factor to the increase in poverty.

It's pretty simple.

 

[Mythrandir]

I think the problem is people who disagree with me. They are the sole source of evil in the world.

In all seriousness, though I'm certain I will be ridiculed, the cause and blame is the innate rebellious nature of humanity, sin. The solution is submission to Jesus Christ of Nazareth as Lord and Savior.

Republicans. See attachment. Poverty going up has historically resulted in crime going up.

Not to mention that crime went down when Roe V Wade passed in the 1970s. Now that it's repealed, crime spiking is not a surprise. We can blame Republicans for that too.

Wow! I had just finished drafting the italicized text when your post popped up.

If we are going to be strictly secular, it would be more reasonable to blame the economic hardships imposed by pandemic policies. It is true that such policies were imposed by Republicans. This is why the partisan lens is not an appropriate lens.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

I explained it. When poverty goes up, crime goes up. I've posted evidence of Republicans shooting down bills which results in poverty going up, and the increase of unwanted pregnancies is another contributing factor to the increase in poverty.

It's pretty simple.

Can you show me which policies are making people so poor that they have to rob a jewelry store in broad daylight?

A stolen iPhone 15 isn't going to produce any baby formula to feed your child.

We sent Ukraine more than 10,000 cans of baby formula, WHILE we were experiencing a nationwide shortage. Just throwing that out there. That would have fed a lot of American babies.

 

[supermist]

Can you show me which policies are making people so poor that they have to rob a jewelry store in broad daylight?

A stolen iPhone 15 isn't going to produce any baby formula to feed your child.

We sent Ukraine more than 10,000 cans of baby formula, WHILE we were experiencing a nationwide shortage. Just throwing that out there. That would have fed a lot of American babies.

You're tunnel focused on specific outlier examples where I'm addressing poverty as a whole. It's going to be another waste of time if I continue to engage with you given your track record.

If you only wanted to discuss the stolen electronics by kids and other tiktok challenges your topic title and opening post should have reflected that instead.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

You're tunnel focused on specific outlier examples where I'm addressing poverty as a whole. It's going to be another waste of time if I continue to engage with you given your track record.

No, you brought up like 12 or so different votes on policy as your argument as to why people are in poverty, and you tied criminality and thievery to a condition of need based on poverty.

You also said essentially that it was because of Republican policies that people are in poverty, and that is why they are looting and ransacking stores.

I asked for you to show me a policy that has made people so poor in Portland, Sacramento, Chicago, New York, and all of these other cities suffering this badly from theft and from shrinkage to make them turn to crime. Specific policies. Specific impacts that would make this make sense.

They're not out here stealing food and baby formula. The criminals are going for thousand-dollar phones, high end clothing and jewelry, when they aren't just walking out of Marshall's with a cart full of clothing and accessories.

You made an argument. I am asking you to clarify. You can cease with the ad hominem, just because you presented a flimsy attack on Republicans veiled as an actual logical argument or discussion topic.

https://apnews.com/article/target-t...l-federation-2355eb9fa3f323e13691d6061bb81019

This is the impact of this continued crime wave across America. This is why people in impoverished communities will soon have even worse and more severe "food deserts" than ever before.

So show me how policy is causing this to happen. Show me how Republicans are to blame.

And if there is ANYBODY ELSE who isn't a bigot who hates anyone who isn't a Democrat who would like to chime in, I'd love to hear from you. Anyone. Literally anyone. You can make fart noises and that would be more informative and less biased.

 

[Xzi]

Corporate greed. Cost of everything keeps going up for no reason, including rent, food, and medicine. Wages have not kept pace at all, so more people than ever are being forced into homelessness and desperation. Meanwhile, we have whole retail stores whose products are all unaffordable for 95% of the population. Hard to sympathize with them getting stolen from, unless somebody is hurt in the process.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

Hard to sympathize with them getting stolen from, unless somebody is hurt in the process.

I would tend to sympathize with ANYONE who was robbed. Wouldn't you?

 

[supermist]

Show me how Republicans are to blame

I already did in the plainest, simplest way and it didn't take. Why waste my time trying again?

Post automatically merged: Sep 27, 2023

Corporate greed. Cost of everything keeps going up for no reason, including rent, food, and medicine. Wages have not kept pace at all, so more people than ever are being forced into homelessness and desperation. Meanwhile, we have whole retail stores whose products are all unaffordable for 95% of the population. Hard to sympathize with them getting stolen from, unless somebody is hurt in the process.

And it bears repeating thag republicans aren't supporting bills to combat a lot of what you're outlining here, per the cspan compilation.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

I already did in the plainest, simplest way and it didn't take. Why waste my time trying again?

You didn't. You posted a list of votes. You didn't point to a single policy in effect, or any law that would cause people to suffer from a level of poverty SO bad that it would justify them robbing a jewelry store.

You simply used this as a platform to bash the Republican party. As always. You weren't addressing this topic at any point, except when you tied poverty to criminality, and then refused to show how that actually tied to Republicans.

I will give you one more chance, bucko. Show me a POLICY that was forced onto people by Republicans that contributed to this massive increase in robberies, lootings, theft and retail shrinkage.

See, that's part of finding a solution. That was the other part of the topic. I'd love to hear your answers on that, too.

 

[Xzi]

I would tend to sympathize with ANYONE who was robbed. Wouldn't you?

No, because these aren't people who are being robbed, they're corporations who value objects and buildings over people. Like I said, I wouldn't want the employees being harmed, but if it's just a straightforward smash and grab, meh.

We'd see a massive decrease in these robberies with an increased minimum wage, universal healthcare, and national rent control. Of course, none of these things would pass even individually in the current political climate.

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

No, because these aren't people who are being robbed, they're corporations who value objects and buildings over people. Like I said, I wouldn't want the employees being harmed, but if it's just a straightforward smash and grab, meh.

We'd see a massive decrease in these robberies with an increased minimum wage, universal healthcare, and national rent control. Of course, none of these things would pass even individually in the current political climate.

I do not agree with a syllable that you just said, but I appreciate your input and appreciate your ability to discuss things you disagree with others about without resorting to personal attacks.

 

[supermist]

You didn't. You posted a list of votes. You didn't point to a single policy in effect, or any law that would cause people to suffer from a level of poverty SO bad that it would justify them robbing a jewelry store.

You simply used this as a platform to bash the Republican party. As always. You weren't addressing this topic at any point, except when you tied poverty to criminality, and then refused to show how that actually tied to Republicans.

I will give you one more chance, bucko. Show me a POLICY that was forced onto people by Republicans that contributed to this massive increase in robberies, lootings, theft and retail shrinkage.

See, that's part of finding a solution. That was the other part of the topic. I'd love to hear your answers on that, too.

People can't afford gas, baby formula, medication or other essentials. Republicans are voting down the lowering of said necessities.

Steal something expensive, sell it on the black market, now you can afford those things.

This is not hard dude.