America Runs on Theft

[@WisecrackEDU]

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[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content guys 😊😊😊❤❤❤

[@jamescopeland6802]

America runs on oil gas and war crimes, not theft.

[@Metal0sopher]

There's just one tiny little giant flaw in you video in the first quarter of your vidoe. All your stats represent ONLY reported crimes. I live in Los Angeles, near down down. We are surrounded by homeless people. The building I live in endures criminal activity every single week, and virtually none of it is reported. Even when my brand new $600 bike was stolen, the cops just shrugged it off. No report was made. Cars are routinely broken into, cops literally DO NOT show up even when called. I've had to call 911 on multiple occasions, but 70% or more of the time, there is NOT answer. Just a recorded message asking to call later because of heavy call volume. Lucky for me none were life and death emergencies, but imagine that. 911, and most of the time, call back later... for the first 5 to 6 attempts. There are parts of LA where the crime rate is lower, like the beach cities, but even there the people I know have similar experiences, just less often. Either no response from 911 or very slow response and most crimes are not documented, no police report on car break ins, or stolen items from balconies, back yards or parking garages. Yet the thefts do happen far more often than normal, and it's not just homeless people. Then there is mail package thefts. Not one ever has ever been documented by the police in my building, and literally hundreds have been stolen over the last 4 years. Possibly thousands, every week I see ripped up packages in the mail room. And you comparing petty theft with corporate corruption makes sense if your focus is corporate corruption, but this video is whereabouts. Look the rich steal billions, so we should ignore petty theft. that we all experience daily. So exactly how can your reporting be even remotely accurate when you don't even bring up the issue of unreported crimes. And there is one more issue, crimes of homes on homeless. I know of at least two rapes, homeless male on homeless female near my building, where the police were called and none showed up. Homeless people are very often found stabbed to death, even shot, and because they have no ID they are not reported as crimes. If you want to do real journalism send someone out in these cities to find out the real numbers. If you don't do this, if you continue reporting FAKE statistics that you google on the net, then you are nothing more than more corporate propaganda, that you pretend is behind the crime in this video. So who are you? An honest information channel, or propaganda?

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

Hey crack friend! (I love my crack friends) you should change your title to runs on "wage theft and corporate crime"

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

@@Metal0sopher I actually really appreciate you bringing all this up because these are fair questions and real events that you're referring to. Yes homeless on homeless crime is very sad and yet hard to prevent and while it's kind of tragic, really pointless to investigate for the cops. Once it's done, there's really nothing else to be done about it and while it's very sad, I really don't know how to change that. Sadly it's very easy for crazy or predatory homeless people to prey on others who are also homeless. Likewise package thefts. I don't know any good way to stop those. Some people will take anything not nailed down. Basically relatively petty low level street crime AKA sidewalk or front door crime is not something I really know a good way to prevent. Do you? It seems the only true mode of prevention is to lock up anything that's left out in the open. As for the cops not coming as for 911 delays yeah that is a huge significant problem but it's possible that they triage calls coming in. If you reported a serious life and death emergency I would hope they would put you to the front of the line. If not that is a serious violation of their responsibility to the public. Perhaps they have a policy of just putting off non-emergency calls, I can see that as a possible explanation. While I definitely believe in defunding street police, I never said people shouldn't be able to receive a 911 response when they feel they need it. One should always be able to receive a prompt response to a 911 report, if the report is indeed life and death or safety-related. So there can only be two causes behind this. Either the city themselves is reducing funding to the LAPD and then the PD is choosing to reduce uts 911 response, which at first glance I would say they shouldn't be doing, OR, they are simply triaging 911 calls. Which do you think it is? cuz I honestly wouldn't know. You yourself can go to a precinct and try to speak with one of their higher-ups and see if they have anything useful to say about it. It can't hurt. I hate the LAPD but 911 is the sole necessary function that they should be prepared to provide at all times. As far as the homeless the only true way to prevent them from harm is to provide more emergency services and long-term housing which the city so far has claimed they want to do and yet they have not. Everything goes back to local policy decisions. If the local city council is corrupt and doesn't care about controlling rent or ensuring that vulnerable people get the resources they need then these situations will just continue or get worse. Bad politicians cause a lot of harm and sadly this is a fact that never changes. Politicians can choose to serve the rich elite or they can choose to serve the rest of us. It's clear to me which one that they prefer in this country.

[@TheRealZura]

"If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing" - the internet

[@VR-iL4ro]

Piracy isn't stealing, it's copyright infringement, but I get the point

[@InvaderTak176]

You wouldnt download a boat​@@VR-iL4ro

[@TheForeigner001]

i dont think that extends to phones or clothings which is what is being caught on vid most of the time

[@Ezra411st]

​@@TheForeigner001shhh you'll scare the news

[@loras507]

@@VR-iL4ro im pretty sure this began in response to the "you wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy campaign

[@veryaquaticpotatoe]

Steal a hundred candy bars and you are going to jail. Steal a hundred paychecks and you might be asked very politely to give 20% of it back.

[@BiscuitDelivery]

If the rules to the game seem so obvious, why do you insist on playing by a different ruleset?

[@prrfrrpurochicas]

​@@BiscuitDelivery sounds like bottom

[@reversalmushroom]

Actually, thanks to soft-on-crime taking over many cities, you don't go to jail for shoplifting either.

[@cptkilgore]

Two wrongs don't make a right.

[@BiscuitDelivery]

@@cptkilgore but three lefts do

[@MmKayUltra1]

I like to refer to wage theft as "payroll tax fraud" because unfortunately while stealing from your employees is usually only a civil matter, shorting the IRS is criminal.

[@bunk95]

Stealing is fictional.

[@DeeDaKaang1]

That part!!!! Corporations have been shortchanging workers since then dark ages

[@arcanineryu]

Wage theft when speaking to an employee, payroll tax fraud when speaking to an employer.

[@Metal0sopher]

I wish this video focused on the rich instead of using "whataboutism" at the beginning. We have two problems at the same time. Corporate corruption, and on top of them petty theft. IN the first part of this vid stats represent ONLY reported crimes. I live in Los Angeles, near down down. We are surrounded by homeless people. The building I live in endures criminal activity every single week, and virtually none of it is reported. Even when my brand new $600 bike was stolen, the cops just shrugged it off. No report was made. Cars are routinely broken into, cops literally DO NOT show up even when called. I've had to call 911 on multiple occasions, but 70% or more of the time, there is NOT answer. Just a recorded message asking to call later because of heavy call volume. Lucky for me none were life and death emergencies, but imagine that. 911, and most of the time, call back later... for the first 5 to 6 attempts. There are parts of LA where the crime rate is lower, like the beach cities, but even there the people I know have similar experiences, just less often. Either no response from 911 or very slow response and most crimes are not documented, no police report on car break ins, or stolen items from balconies, back yards or parking garages. Yet the thefts do happen far more often than normal, and it's not just homeless people. Then there is mail package thefts. Not one ever has ever been documented by the police in my building, and literally hundreds have been stolen over the last 4 years. Possibly thousands, every week I see ripped up packages in the mail room. So exactly how can your reporting be even remotely accurate when you don't even bring up the issue of unreported crimes. And there is one more issue, crimes of homes on homeless. I know of at least two rapes, homeless male on homeless female near my building, where the police were called and none showed up. Homeless people are very often found stabbed to death, even shot, and because they have no ID they are not reported as crimes. If you want to do real journalism send someone out in these cities to find out the real numbers. If you don't do this, if you continue reporting FAKE statistics that you google on the net, then you are nothing more than more corporate propaganda, that you pretend is behind the crime in this video. So who are you? An honest information channel, or propaganda?

[@arcanineryu]

@@Metal0sopher dude, take a breath. the main thing you should take away from this video is not that theft has no victims, but that as a country, we're stuck in a circular trap. white collar crime ruins peoples lives. the peoples who's lives are ruined then go on to perform risky and desperate behavior that comes at the expense of the people around them. The white collar criminals blame their victims for causing crime. Tax money is wasted on reacting to crime rather than preventing it, and the white collar criminals get more wealthy and more powerful. and thus more able to ruin lives. And the cycle repeats, with more people becoming desperate and more crime being committed. it's unlikely your $600 bike would have been stolen if people had the $600 to buy their own bike. People not having the $600 is not arbitrary luck, but a deliberate choice to screw over employees for short term profits by both underpaying them, scamming them, price gouging them, and draining their savings through totally unnecessary economic crises that happened only because of the reckless and often explicitly illegal pursuit of smash and grab short term profits. Like poor neighborhoods are not full of homeless and drug addicts because homeless and drug addicts are fated from birth to create poor neighborhoods thanks to their own innate inferiority. But because the wealthy choose to create drug addicts and homeless, and then give them no where else to go. Homeless drug addicts are something the wealthy *deliberately chose to make* for the purpose of hoarding more wealth and power.

[@CynthiaMcG]

Stealing a bottle of shampoo: gonna take you to jail. Stealing an employee's wages: Congrats! Here's a corporate bonus!

[@ClementinesmWTF]

As a New York City thief, life is pretty meh. I stole the Empire State Building one night, but my 5sqft apartment didn’t have anywhere to put it, so I just decided to put it back before anyone noticed. You’re welcome ig.

[@Awesomesauce1_8_6_4]

This MIGHT be Grue

[@anythinginvolvingsharks]

"Which corporations would you send to jail?" Yes.

[@Ford_prefect_42]

LMAO

[@lazysnorlax3015]

Big pharma's my number one

[@tacticallemon7518]

If corporations are people, then we *should* be able to send them to jail

[@justinjacobs1501]

​@tacticallemon7518 seriously though, fines don't and never have worked to stop corporate entities from continuing to commit crimes. They should start banning them from operating for periods of time based on the severity of the crime... Or just hold the board and CEO accountable and put them away at least.

[@tacticallemon7518]

@@justinjacobs1501 well, yea Fines/fees are just business expenses to the biggest companies, $50,000 for poison and entire city? gimme three minutes, i’ll make it back

[@daveo1002]

Most companies report "loss" or "shrink" which does include theft. However, most shrink is due to things like goods damaged in transit, expiration dates passing, and other boring stuff.

[@turtleanton6539]

Yes

[@MisterCynic18]

As a former retail manager I can confirm. The vast amount is just fucked up shipments and various forms of bureaucratic incompetence

[@bunk95]

They market whats occurring with fiction thought if as a report?

[@Chris.The.WiFi_Buddha]

As a former Asset protection professional this is true. Many managers at a particular big box chain are guilty of poor inventory management and end up messing up inventory causing stores to shrink out. I even investigated a manager who hid excess inventory to get a better count for a bonus. It shrunk the store out for years after he left.

[@thmswalters]

@@Chris.The.WiFi_BuddhaCan confirm. I was once trained by a franchise store manager to fudge our food costs. He noted that it was done like this every month. I did a bit of it and thought about it and refused to do it anymore. This store manager was also the Mayor of a neighboring small town.

[@Kumori90]

I'm a shoplifter from Boston. The self checkout is the greatest invention ever. Such a wise decision to lay off most cashiers to install machines that make petty crime so much easier.

[@VaQm11]

I donnu, now I feel like a sucker for paying for stuff. 😏 I feel like I'm not in solidarity with those people who can't afford to pay (like myself on occasion) when I do pay for things. 🙄

[@thestrangeone5921]

This is why i am glad some states are pushing job postings to require salaries up front. We need more honesty from corporations.

[@All-due-respect-I-disagree]

They did this in Washington state. Job postings are still showing DOE or “IDK lol”.

[@strivingtobalance]

Let’s not forget that in San Francisco, Walgreen’s repeatedly cited shoplifting as one of their primary reasons for closing stores, despite the fact that the real reason was all internal bordering on corporate malfeasance. Not to mention that one of the managers at the Walgreen’s in San Francisco was literally coordinating robberies of his own store with a friend.

[@Code7Unltd]

>SF Walgreens manager plans robberies of stores with a friend, who's a thief >Walgreens leaves San-Francisco because of the robberies Walgreens wanted to get out of San-Francisco, but had no pretense give hounding newscasters, until learning about the robberies, neglecting the internal theft plannings. How close am I?

[@laurachristianson1688]

Walgreens isn’t closing stores because of shoplifting…they just built too many of them. Especially in the suburban Chicago area it got to the point where there was a Walgreens less than a mile apart. Add to that many of the locations have less than optimal access, weird intersections bad parking etc…

[@BillDaBurgerEater]

Not seeing the point of your comment, the cause is still theft and crime for the closure. This video and "data" cited is BS

[@lysanamcmillan7972]

@@laurachristianson1688 Closing for that reason doesn't get them as much governmental pity money or allow them to promote pro-fascist ideas to the media. Think about it. "The poors are killing our business! Liberal cities are evil and broken!"

[@andrewsheets5072]

Mate all you guys talking about theft in SF.. have you ever lived there? Have you seen it firsthand or are you repeating what someone else has said. Shit is anarchy out here

[@Jx493]

They slap "organized" on there if you go into the store with another person. If organized retail theft had to qualify for the same standard of organization and premeditation as organized crime, it would be close to 0%. Going into the the store with a buddy and one of you stealing a pack of batteries is not organized crime. It's a miscarriage of justice to trump the charge up.

[@Sephiroth144]

And charge more than one person (getting "two 'criminals'" off the streets instead of just one)

[@deadhead4077]

After you said what corporations we should send to jail, my first thought was whoever was behind the lobbying to get citizens united into law. and the next sentence you say has to do with citizens united LOL

[@WisecrackEDU]

heads are all on the same wavelength

[@sacha9593]

Because at this point the "corporation are people in Citizen United" is a completely dumb American liberal cliché*. There is even a reference to the Citizen United decision in the Barbie movie of all places (a very international movie: as a french I was like "why?", very few people in the theater will understand the reference) ! *juridical personality for corporation is something that exist in almost every legal system since thousand of years, that's not specifically American and it is not really what Citizen United was about

[@deadhead4077]

@@sacha9593 it's way more than corporate person hood tho, is legalized corporate bribery, now just normalized as lobbying with all this stupid rules as theater to pretend its not what it is like only food on sticks or whatever. Now with that kind of money involved influencing politics there's zero hope for any kind of grassroots movements having an impact on policy. Politicians now take stances that don't represent the majority of their constituents and both parties answer to the same corporate backers. They should all be required to wear patches like NASCAR of where theyve all taken money from.

[@beleden1215]

Whoo! X= 2cos(4x + 69)

[@lysanamcmillan7972]

@@sacha9593 So, ma petite gosse, care to tell Americans who read the decision and have seen the results what is really going on in our borders? Can we reply by discussing your government's anti-Muslim behaviors and the propaganda spreading about the refugees?

[@j.martinez8282]

"Steal a little and they throw you in jail. Steal a lot and they make you King."- Bob Dylan. Sure sounds like the past 40+ -years of America's history to me.

[@moatplay]

Money isn’t just motive. It’s the means. There was a report that came out a while ago that said that the IRS went after poor people because the rich people fight back harder. The reason why the government goes after poor people is because it’s easier unfortunately. We severely overestimate the strength of our government when dealing with rich corporations many of whom are global juggernauts are vastly too powerful.

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

Exactly.

[@pinguimhbs]

So what you are saying is that there is a conflict between the rich and the poor lets say a class conflict. And the power of the government is not subserviente to the will of the people, but to the resources of the rich, like a dictatorship of the high class. On top of that there is no way inside of the system for the work class to fight back becaus ethe system was designed in a way that the will of the people will never be able to overpower the resources of the rich, meaning reformation is very unlikelly, thus the only way to change the system is going outside of the system, thus... revolution. I think I heard those concepts somewhere but I can't remember where....

[@colonelweird]

At some point you stop saying, "Oh no, this system is corrupt!" and you start saying, "The system is working according to plan - we have to tear it down completely."

[@deep_fried_analysis]

It has taken decades, but the new generations have internalized this fact. They just don't know how to dismantle it yet.

[@Ford_prefect_42]

Well said friend

[@arabcadabra8863]

@@deep_fried_analysisIf everyone stopped paying their mortgage at the same time... If everyone demanded a trial instead of a plea deal... Getting everyone on the same page is the problem.

[@deep_fried_analysis]

Not a problem. It's a challenge ;)@@arabcadabra8863

[@Oldhandlewasabitcringe]

And how do you think that wont just make things worse?

[@agrosbloodmane3302]

Obviously corporations can't be prosecuted. How else would they keep all the money the rest of us make for them?

[@action2news256]

Wage theft is the highest paid crime in America

[@edwardzignot2681]

I'd send PG&E to prison for multiple life sentences. They're a California wide power company that pled guilty to 84 counts of felony manslaughter after causing the 2018 "Camp Fire" that burnt down an entire town in Northern California. They decided to save a few bucks by not performing needed maintenance on their grid since the 1970's! They've actually been responsible for several of the huge fires up here in the past decade. Most punishment they got was a couple million bucks in fines, which is NOTHING to this billion dollar a year company. Less than a slap on the wrist. California recently approved a 16% rate hike benefiting PG&E, with a second equally large rate hike to follow later in the year! So they were basically rewarded for killing dozens of people through negligence. Just because they didn't want to pay for maintenance. They're also just generally terrible at their jobs, they have way way more outages per year compared to other comparably sized power companies. Kill people via greed and can't even keep the lights on = Pay increase! Because, AMERICA! They're also the company featured in the movie "Erin Brockovich." They're so bad a freaking movie was made about how terrible they are!

[@Code7Unltd]

I remember one name for PG&E being "Pigs, Goats and Elephants". Of course, their initials can also mean "Parasitic Gastroenteritis".

[@coopergates9680]

@@Code7Unltd Profiteers, gluttons, and exploiters. A bit redundant, though. Lol

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

Corporate manslaughter should be prosecuted as such.

[@WheretheWillowsGrow]

Ppl be bashing on California for being on fire all the time when in reality most of the time it’s just pg&e or a gender reveal

[@watamatafoyu]

Nobody needs CEOs, but they need us. Bring back high taxes on high incomes like we had in the golden age of the middle class.

[@drachma7434]

There never was a golden age of the middle class, at least in America. If you consider post ww2 that's a time of great inequality in which the middle class was built upon the poor, now the upper class is built upon everyone else

[@watamatafoyu]

@@drachma7434 The poor will always exist. The middle-class is the bulk of the country, and therefore the most important.

[@teacake6941]

There was never a middle class. You either work for your money or your money works for you.

[@pinguimhbs]

​@@watamatafoyu middle class is an illudion, you are close to a homeless than to a person with influence. If you go bankrupt the problem is still yours, you are a few months or years from hunger if you get jobless. even if you are owner of a small business that a crisis can swipe away easly, you are poor worker class. Poor premium Poor+ Whenever you can measure the financial security of your family in GENERATIONS and not in weeks or even a handfull of years, then we are talking about real class jump.

[@TheHonestPeanut]

If you see someone stealing food in a supermarket, no you didn't.

[@kaintshine]

Can I sue the government? My great grandfather (grandpa was born in 1899!) never received his 40 acres and mule.

[@ChillinLikkkkkkeAVillian]

Same. We should do a class action lawsuit or something

[@deep_fried_analysis]

Just dooo it! I can bet there are more people out there that would join!@@ChillinLikkkkkkeAVillian

[@mjwbulich]

Do people still believe in that myth? Please educate yourself. It was a field order issued by a Union general(Sherman if I remember correctly)during wartime. It only applied to a very specific region of the country. The idea of giving all four million freed slaves land was never suggested. As soon as the war was over the order was overturned. Never codified into law. Never approved by Congress. Never a thing. The mule part of the story is a myth inside a myth. There was no mention of a mule in the field order. It was suggested in the press that Army mules, no longer needed in peacetime, could be lent out to the former slaves.

[@Totoofwarful]

“Laws! We know what they are, and what they are worth! Spider webs for the rich and powerful, steel chains for the weak and poor, fishing nets in the hands of the government.” ― Pierre-Joseph Proudhon

[@ParallelPenguins]

If corporations are people and you can send people to jail then you can send corporations to jail. Send all the higher-ups to a 'federal pound you in the ass' prison.

[@danpavelko8414]

Great job with the shout-out to Some More News. That was a great episode.

[@rudeboyjohn3483]

Somewhere, a Warmbo got his wings

[@OnlyDoniaUKnow]

Aw yeah, NYC Thief Here! (For legal reasons this is a joke) Seriously though, the city is pricing out the locals. It’s always been pricey but you were still able to make ends meet. The cost of living here has skyrocketed since the pandemic and, if you can even find a job, the pay is straight insulting. No surprise NYC residents are pulling off heists on the regular

[@Code7Unltd]

Well, as Florida is the U.S. state equivalent of Australia, New York is that to Israel.

[@emilyniedbala]

If there ever was a crime that is a symptom of systemic issues, it has to be petty theft and shoplifting... like if someone feels the need to take the risk of stealing things like deodorant, the "loss of revenue" from that deodorant is not even remotely the problem.

[@jaredbardell7431]

100%

[@rudeboyjohn3483]

Preach

[@milkdrinker7]

sure, people need things that they sometimes can't afford, but what's the deal with people who steal things from, say, restaurants, things like utensils, parmesan shakers, wine glasses, etc.? what do you suppose causes that sort of behavior?

[@bojangs4719]

Facts

[@f1mbultyr]

@@milkdrinker7 people need those things too. stealing from corporations is good and healthy.

[@ElectricAgenda]

When the punishment for stealing is incarceration or fines but the punishment for not stealing could be starving to death it’s not very confusing why it’s not the deterrent they would hope

[@Almighty_Mage]

So make theft punishable by death? Understood

[@ElectricAgenda]

@@too1leasy Can sell the clothes to afford rent and food.

[@ElectricAgenda]

@@too1leasy you sell the clothes to buy food/rent/bills/gas. A loaf of bread might feed you for a week, but it grows moldy. A rack of clothes can give you enough money to buy multiple loafs across multiple weeks. Not complicated stuff here.

[@vampireLFD]

America (especially, but not exclusively) has a big problem to solve... the problem of "Greed is good", and morality embedded in bad faith and deceit from "good people"..

[@TJMaxximalist]

Milton Friedman gaslighting generations into believing that somehow corporate greed is a totally good thing and not bad actually is just depressing to think about. His ideas are cited so often it feels like being quoted Bible verses.

[@Ashtarte3D]

What makes it worse is overwhelmingly these rich pricks sucker the faithful into doing their bidding like Donald Trump who has someone conned the religious right into believing he is their new messiah when he is far closer to being the anti-Christ.

[@jonstephenson5436]

@@TJMaxximalistyeah, then you have the Ayn Rand folks 🤦🏻‍♂️. It really is baked into the cake at this point. I don’t know how you get it out, I just try to live my life opposing, and talking against those ideas. I have a grandpa who is shocked every time I do something for him without expecting compensation. That’s my grandpa….. Still such a “morality of capitalism” believer that he feels dirty when I do him a favor.

[@Praisethesunson]

More money and manpower than your entire bloodline will ever have, is spent every single year to make you think the theft the rich do to you is baked in. ​@@jonstephenson5436 These nightmarish creatures can be felled. They can be beaten. Just not by yourself.

[@thmswalters]

@@jonstephenson5436You might not think you know how to get it out, but you seem to be thinking about the problem as it pertains to your own sphere of existence. I also like to help for free or barter for a nice cooked meal. Here are some things I strive to do. It's a tiny list, any suggestions for additional are appreciated. 1. Cut ties with every business you don't actually need. 2. The things you do need, try to get them other ways. America is a plastic cesspool of waste... 100 bonus points if you repurpose something. 3. Free from a few strings at this point, you can snowball by spending freed up resources scrutinizing the things that matter. 4. Encourage your peers. Listen to what's going on. Read between the lines. Follow the money. Avoid the gaslighting. Leverage social media. 5. Quit brandishing the vampire tokens of these corporations. No more logos, pins, turn your free shirts inside out. This is a form of psychic control. Break it.

[@perogieluver]

Let's send Walmart, Nestle, Coca Cola, and McDonald's to jail.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

In Germany, there are designated people who have liability, and the board can be removed or jailed if they allow criminal behavior to occur.

[@EmperorNefarious1]

Revoking the trademark would be like putting them in jail. Letting any worker on the street sell cola as coke would be a just punishment.

[@EngineeredChannel]

Don't forget Boeing.

[@pinguimhbs]

@@EmperorNefarious1 confiscating shares with decision power from the top shareholders would make them be responsible. And if the shareholder is a company or another crporation, you get the equivalent for,m that corporation too, until you find a real person that has the controll.

[@NarfleTheGarthok]

I wish there was a place that you could do a smash and grab for healthcare.

[@sharlharmakhis280]

in my opinion, if you see someone stealing food/medicine/baby-stuff/hygiene-items/bad-weather-gear.... no you didn't!

[@jk_lol9266]

My FRIEND used to steal PSP games from target clearance isle, walk across the parking lot to sell them at GameStop, and use the cash to buy better videogames (who says the US isn't walkable).

[@WisecrackEDU]

Lol - the walkable line at the end got me good.

[@c0urt_jest3r]

did the gamestop people ever get suspicious of your FRIEND after he kept coming in and selling new looking games?

[@jk_lol9266]

@@c0urt_jest3r I don't think so. But the people at target sure got suspicious after the 8th trip in a single day lol

[@scottellis9079]

Happy to see Cody's Showdy getting a shout-out.

[@HardCodedGaming]

Please give Mike hazard pay for the Jordan Peterson research

[@CynthiaMcG]

Jordan Peterson is the Sheogorreth of the Internet.

[@angryowlet153]

A big part of why retail pharmacy locations in NYC close is from over-saturation. In some areas, you can't throw a rock without hitting a Walgreens, even more so after they bought out Duane Reade (a local chain competitor).

[@germen2631]

"It's like the '90s all over again...but people are still knee jerk responding with the same tired ideas that we know don't work". Argentinian here, I wish this wasn't nearly as representative as it is of what's going on here these days.

[@RickReasonnz]

Here in New Zealand, we had a spate of ram raids during and after lockdown. And while no one wants small businesses to be assaulted, oh MAN there was such a knee jerk reaction. It was like everyone thought they're going to ram raid every house in the country in time! My response was, why the fuck do you think they're stealing?

[@daveo1002]

Now you're attacking CEOs?! Those are the real job creators! Sure, they have to keep their people in line by withholding pay and not paying for bathroom breaks, but that's all warranted.

[@mik99D]

That is why there are laws. Health and safety at work act. Unions.. I am in the UK and I have been fighting for a minimum pay rate of £15 per hour ($18). It is the only way to increase local economies and benefit communities. I hope I do not have to explain that.. (EDIT last sentence added)

[@Code7Unltd]

@ But then unions can be corrupted too. Do you know the meaning of the term "user error"? How about "wetware bugs"? "skill issue"?

[@Mix1mum]

CEO isn't even a real job. It can't be. Look how many places Elon is CEO of, and if we've learned anything beyond a shadow of a doubt, it's that we DO NOT live in a meritocracy. Thank you for making that clear for the kids in the back, Elon. I appreciate that

[@oike2727]

If I could send corporations to jail, I would sentence Amazon, Google, Facebook (not calling it the other name), Cargill, Ticketmaster, Walmart, Blackrock, Blackstone, Raytheon, and Tesla to name a few.

[@alexixeno4223]

This is so depressing to listen to.. needs to be talked about(along with many other subjects) but still... hurts.

[@MisterCynic18]

2:10 used to work in retail in NYC. At least once a week someone would come in with a garbage bag, toss as much as they could into it and then run out. Well, more like walk briskly out cause it's not like we were allowed to stop them anyway.

[@joeyhoy1995]

They'd rather loss $200 then to lose $200k in a wrongful death lawsuit.

[@MisterCynic18]

@@joeyhoy1995 pretty sure we were insured and didn't lose much of anything at all lol

[@aureateseigneur5317]

​@MisterCynic18 No he's saying you aren't allowed to do anything as an employee because you getting hurt saving a TV costs more then the TV does.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Video and stream?! You guys are spoiling us today! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@samhank]

Lol

[@JPsJacket]

Not a political judgment but a fact: if I committed the same level of fraud/stealing as Trump did in NY, I would be in jail years ago. The fact that he's still out campaigning is wild and shows that the justice system is imbalanced

[@ianbirge8269]

So doing nothing wrong will get you imprisoned? I mean yeah in this commie system it happens quite a lot.

[@unconventionalideas5683]

But he is getting into trouble for it and finding it very expensive.

[@aureateseigneur5317]

​@@unconventionalideas5683That's just means it's legal if you can afford to buy it. He should be fucking jail.

[@Krotas_DeityofConflicts]

Still preferable than Slow Biden

[@rhythmandblues_alibi]

Imbalanced is an understatement !!

[@CHUCKLZLORD]

"If you could... which corporations would you send to jail" All of them. Every single one.

[@humanbeing4995]

Which ones. Well. I want to be fair. So a study needs to be done on just who influenced regular people to see the problem clearly and do nothing but wait for a better item to consume that solves the issue. I guess I know where it started. With Bernays. From here is it easy to actually pinpoint just who is brainwashing us into believing modern life is the only way to live? If we're looking to reform then we need to change. If you're looking for punishment then keep driving to work per normal like you don't have an option and the planet will take care of us. Wei, Wu Wei.

[@PhilospherDjPsychologist24]

As a New Yorker, the only thing I have stolen has been Hearts

[@thisguy5493]

German author Bertolt Brecht has a great quote that fits this topic perfectly: What is the robbing of a bank compared to the founding of a bank?

[@JemLeavitt]

Great video. Thanks for this one.

[@NT_Escanor]

The shrinking joke was funny. Popular girls stealing was a thing at my school too, I had a girl try to have me help her steal from a Hot Topic on a date. Also, I don’t think crime is increasing I think that the projection of minor crime on the news to inflate a nonexistent problem

[@WisecrackEDU]

I'm glad it wasn't just at my school, and what a date!

[@FelixNothus]

It's absolutely wild you're condoning this shit. @@WisecrackEDU

[@yautl1]

With the cost of living becoming increasingly untenable for the average person I really wouldn't be surprised that shoplifting rates are going up though.

[@RickDidaz]

@@WisecrackEDU a bunch of girls stealing one small items and wanting to act cool isn't the same as an individual walking in with a bag, stealing thousands of dollars of merchandise and walking out, knowing there won't be any consequences.

[@heyliim2817]

​@RickDidaz you'd need to have the biggest fucking bag I've ever seen to be able to walk into a store and steal thousands of dollars of merch without encountering any kind of security measure like those weird magnetic gates. Hell, even stores like Walmart have receipt checkers, and most of their products are no more expensive than 50$. To be able to steal that much in a single bag you'd probably need to rob a tech store, and I've never seen one of them where most products weren't locked behind windows or quite heavily protected at the entrance. TLDR : nobody's stealing thousands of dollars shoplifting in a store.

[@JacobP81]

10:16 Wow that is so messed up. 5 years imprisoned for all those crimes and 50 years in jail for stealing only $150 of tapes! CRAZY!

[@karlslicher8520]

"A bunch of tax dodgers start a nation..." does not a lawful society make.

[@TheOblivionMemeGuy]

I had a drug addic steal a package off my porch. Caught them on the security camera and knew they'd be walking back down the street again. I confronted them - long story short - they sold my $120 package to a local bodega on our block. He bought the stolen package for $10 from the drug addict thief. And then would go on to resell it. Essentially I uncovered a local package theft ring.

[@onetonberry]

Corporations can go to jail then, I choose. Uh. Ooh, Nestle. Nestle's gotta go

[@omega13ful]

Related to Enron's crimes. Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos infamy is the daughter of one of Enron's vice presidents. Funny coincidence that.

[@skylineXpert]

Its sad it has come to this. Because once this is on the police record you are marked for years if not life. Some career paths requires a clean record.

[@saininj]

Surprisingly not President of the United States for some reason.

[@Roxor128]

@@saininjNor parenting.

[@artKaiMerra]

There's a perception that crime is worse now but that's inaccurate. Life used to be a lot worse and you were far more likely to be murdered 100 years ago.

[@LezCharming]

It's true that the economy is apocalyptic in the USA. But we need to educate people, show them that theft doesn't make sense. No theft score is worth the charge risk and its' accompanying stigma. It's a short ride to no training and no job.

[@LezCharming]

Plus,store employees are negatively impacted by theft,often blamed by their superiors regardless of their behavior or honesty. The middle class is a great friend and a terrible enemy. Let them be a friend.

[@stirringthepodcast]

Michael I just wanna say how much you've blossomed as a speaker and host! When you first started I was like "man this guy f***in sucks!" But now I can't wait to hear Michael tickle my eardrums! 🥴😅😅😅 Keep up the great work! 🙌🏽💪🏾💯💜

[@WisecrackEDU]

Haha wow thanks - I'm glad we've come so far together.

[@JoshBoykinIG]

Don't forget the armed guards in vests and tactical gear at the front doors as if Target is Fort Knox

[@linaskvedaras]

Probably don't want to lose their life to these *cough* urban folk. For doing what is right in their communal value system, even though don't intervene, just monitor rule.

[@karere1s]

I can understand someone stealing food or baby supplies. But the number of proud shoplifters on here is disgusting. Whether you believe it's wrong or not, being proud of regularly stealing stuff shows you have nothing better going in your life

[@yore5]

They’re marxists on this channel. These commenters believe capitalism and the free market are wrong and since they don’t believe in the market, they do their best to mess it all up with theft. Typical in anarchist circles because these are people who will never contribute to our economic system

[@scottsteele791]

Steaks are actually bananas at self checkout

[@cheeserdane]

Why does this donut weigh a whole pound?

[@cybersearcher1041]

These fruits are all lentils

[@carultch]

@@cheeserdane Homer put a whole bunch of candy on top, trying to pass them off as sprinkles.

[@ellicurus]

So happy to see Some More News shouted out across the KZbin. Cody’s showdy has been keeping me going for years now.

[@somerandofilipino6957]

Sorry, I don't really support petty criminality nor do I feel particularly inclined to justify it as some form great and moral act of protest and activism.

[@d.brianburnsii1011]

Also, I am a new Yorker. I don't shop lift, but I could see that number going up here. There have been lots of moments where I went into a retail store to find the employees no where to be seen, and if I wanted I could have taken a ton of shit. I been in a gamestop once, where the employee was absent for like an hour. And living in New York, people here don't let you get away with neglagence.

[@dakinademino977]

Crime rates go down when you alter the law to make it legal to steal buddy.

[@MaestroGrey]

I am a New York City thief and I appreciate you cooking the crime numbers by saying I don't count. You're a real bro, bro.

[@aut0turret]

Has everyone forgotten that two wrongs don't make right? That one just perpetuates the other, then vice versa? Condoning theft just plain wrong. Retribution for perceived slights is wrong. Things are never going to get better because everyone feels entitled to everyone else's property.

[@harryomharry]

I exist, so pay me. I am a better human because i exist in North America, pay me more. I don't want to take any risk, start my own business, i just want a reliable paycheck. I will complain about others while i will ignore illegal aliens who will do all the extremely crappy "work" because i am worth more. If there are any immigrants here, don't fall for the psychobabble here. You'll only learn victim hood here. I don't forget how bad it was in my third world country. I didn't come here to pay taxes for your social experiments.

[@aureateseigneur5317]

No one gives a fuck about moral lessons when their life is on the line and they steal to eat. Fuck you two wrongs horse shit when people are starving because their wages are being stolen. We didn't forget the moral lesson, we just realized it was a stupid ass moral lesson designed to keep poor people feeling bad for doing what they need to in order to survive. Fuck your two wrongs. There's nothing wrong with stealing from theives and the major Corpos are the biggest thieves on the planet.

[@jjmail1971]

Stealing from a person is not the same as retail crime. I don't think anyone should be stealing stuff, but shoplifting from Target is less serious than burgling someone's home IMO

[@aut0turret]

@@jjmail1971 We have to treat both acts as equal. Because when we look the other way when people "steal from Target," the criminally minded begin to think "why not steal from homes, too.." Theft is theft. You have to think along the lines of "Is this what we want to be as a society?" Allowing retail theft isn't going to correct any wealth inequalities. Sure, the thief has a shiny new TV, but now his grandmother has nowhere to buy groceries since the store shut it's doors due to excessive theft.

[@deeznuts133]

As someone who steals from retail, I don't look at stealing from people's homes the same way. Bootlicker

[@joanjobs4359]

"The entire structure of a criminal organization is intended to protect and insulate high-ranking bosses, who are often shielded from wrongdoing they have directly approved." FTFY

[@Typical.Anomaly]

Shout out from a retired booster in the midwest! I used to snag D&D books at the mall regularly in 1994-95. Steal whatever you can from Waldenbooks, go in the restroom and put the book(s) in a grocery bag that I brought from home, and return them to B. Dalton. Then go buy nasty brick weed with the money (it was the mid 90s; it's all we had!)

[@WisecrackEDU]

Amazing - thanks for sharing your tales of crime!

[@kalebzerger301]

Hell yeah brother import them pine trees to the midwest

[@Typical.Anomaly]

@@kalebzerger301 Sometimes it tasted like Pine-Sol lol

[@jonofthehill]

Ahh, brick weed, almost forgot about that seedy and stemmy nightmare of a future headache lol

[@emanym]

As a former bookstore owner, this story makes me angry 😠

[@meagankissner5195]

SO glad you mentioned the showdy! I've been watching some more news for years! Great reference Michael!!❤❤

[@thebenmiller]

Crazy how many people will watch this and side with the corporations

[@philthh]

You really think these thieves only target corporations?

[@kalebzerger301]

@@philthhmost of them, but point made

[@WisecrackEDU]

If you side with the corporations leave a comment and let us know! no judgement (at least from us)

[@philthh]

@@kalebzerger301 and you know that how? What makes you think these thieves are anything more than opportunists looking to benefit themselves off the work of others?

[@Mischievous_Moth]

@@philthh There's a lot more money to be made stealing from corporations, and they're a lot less likely to notice than a small mom and pop place. Sure there's a handful that shoplift from smaller places, but the vast majority aim for bigger stores. Thieves aren't dumb. Source: I used to work at a small mom & pop place, and I've also worked in major retail (Walmart specifically)

[@willtobias5280]

'Equality under the law is paramount and mandatory'

[@Code7Unltd]

>Equality under the law >law is dictated by creatures meat and bone, some of which believe they're better than "the other" It takes someone of strong will and sound logic to apply laws equally, otherwise "some animals are more equal than others".

[@ClockwerkMan]

99% of retail theft is done by owners of capital, both in the abstract theft of value from labor, and in the very real sense of wage theft. Which absolutely *dwarfs* shrinkage.

[@zufalllx]

Let's not start dealing in abstract.

[@josephcarradine9069]

In answer to which corporation would I send to jail; all of them. People are innocent until proven guilty. Let's all admit that corporations (yes, ALL corporations- I see you "not all corporations" people) are guilty until proven innocent.

[@procrastinator547]

If the grocery store can’t be bothered to pay someone a fair wage to check out groceries, then I’m stealing whatever I can through self-checkout. And I see nothing wrong with that.

[@nicolasleroux5302]

Cool. Then the store will shut down and everyone will complain about food deserts. Congrats, you rationalizing r*tard.

[@denotwos]

It's an employee discount. Remember; if you see someone stealing at a self checkout, no you didn't

[@RickDidaz]

And you know a grocery store isn't paying their employees a fair wage... how? Also having these stores close isn't going to help the employees who will then be unemployed.

[@brendanmcculloch2406]

is it a company in a capitalist country? if so then you know. "if you don't let these people steal then their victims will suffer" is a wild take​@@RickDidaz

[@RickDidaz]

@@brendanmcculloch2406 "I'm going to assume all stores don't pay their employees fairly so I'm going to steal" seems to be your take.

[@MagnusKjærgaard]

Danish person here. Hearing Micheal speak was danish was very funny. His pronounciations were way of, but I could defintely understand what he was trying to say.

[@Quadr44t]

Searching emloyees is a very good way to show your trust. I think it will help employees motivation for sure.... It isn't hard people, pay your employees, and be chill, give em at least some form of agency. That makes for employees that care, and actually will try their best. It's really scary that it is/has become more profitable not to do so. I guess that was the whole goal of simplifying/compartmentalizing jobs. Makes someone more replaceable.

[@MichellesdesignsEtc]

Just because it doesn't reduce crime....doesn't mean someone should not be punished 🤦‍♀️

[@MichellesdesignsEtc]

And the punishment should fit the crime....

[@georgejones1513]

@@MichellesdesignsEtc What is the purpose of punishment?

[@CabVideoz]

The over criminalization of petty theft also serves to push ppl back into overworking in unsafe conditions to get what they need instead of once in a while taking it from corporations that have stolen from us all many millions of times over.

[@jraluark]

Every health insurance company straight to jail.

[@claytonhelme1735]

Thanks for the video Wisecrack team! If only we could actually prosecute all the criminal companies.

[@narutofan08nd12]

I think probably like 90-100% of the fortune 500 companies should be jailed

[@gabrielmarciu69]

I don't know what a "New York thief" is but I once took a pair of magnets without paying on a school trip from a guy selling shit on the side of the road. Never been to America tho

[@Raizazel]

So let me try to understand what you are saying. Shoplifting is not that bad because there are other crimes? Great reasoning, give this man a medal or something. Ofc you need to go after every criminal that means every criminal. And making the shoplifter pay multiple times the items stolen is reasonable, if you just make them pay for the items the incentive to shoplift is huge, almost no consequences. I'm sure this guy would agree to modify the law so if shoplifters get caught they would just need to pay for the items stolen but be allowed to keep the items.

[@Skullofdarkness1]

"Which corporations would you send to jail?" Blackgate and other such real estate firms profiteering off of and perpetuating the housing crisis with full knowledge of the risks to homeless individuals.

[@GeorgeMazur29]

Idk why wage theft is a “gotcha” to shoplifting when both should be proportionally punished

[@BrunoZaigot]

I have worked at a grocery store for 15 years. I have seen theft go down in that time. Not a large amount or anything, but still smaller than it was.

[@ThomasPotato]

The whole argument of "These rich people commit crimes too" doesn't making shoplifting okay, two wrongs don't make a right, it's extremely irritating that people justify criminal behavior by saying other types of criminal behavior exists.

[@aureateseigneur5317]

Shop lifting from Walmart isn't a crime, yoy can't steal from thieves, their stuff isn't really theirs, they stole it it to sell to you.

[@Hamboogler]

Same people be saying "whataboutism!"

[@aureateseigneur5317]

You can't shoplift from people whose gains are ill gotten in the first place.

[@zufalllx]

​@@Hambooglerwe used to call that hypocrisy and it was okay to point out

[@zufalllx]

​@@aureateseigneur5317it's like saying you can't kill somebody who has cancer. Ridiculous

[@spacebear6943]

I'm here to get Wisecrack out of KZbin jail!

[@seankelly1291]

Why do we still call it inflation when corporate profits are going up? Its not inflation, its price gauging.

[@spacecaptain9188]

I've long since lost any sympathy for the super rich, when they get robbed. That includes wealthy businesses! Pay you're workers, losers!

[@danculea7865]

I think one reason why shoplifting is getting so much attention is because it appears that nowadays they're doing it with impunity. Just fill the shopping cart, and walk away casually while everyone films you because nobody is going to do anything about it. Police rarely investigate these things, clerks are told not to intervene due to potential lawsuits and the public isn't going to do anything because why would they if the people who have a duty and interest in putting an end to this situation don't seem to care. What's even more worrisome in my opinion is that some people say "who cares, it's insured anyway" without understanding that means everyone pays towards it (shoppers and shareholders alike) or as some sort of twisted Robin Hood to stick it to the corporations. Two (or more) wrongs don't make a right...

[@SynthAir]

I couldn't agree more. There are too many people in these comments trying to rationalize theft as a sort of "twisted Robin Hood," using the relative impunity and transgressions of corporations as justification for stealing while hypocritically admonishing white collar theft. By that logic, it would be justified for corporations to steal more from people as people steal more from them. _Both_ things can be wrong and that doesn't mean you or anyone is "siding with corporations" for pointing that out. Yes, lower income individuals generally face much harsher penalties for crimes than wealthy people and corporations and something needs to change, but theft is a problem, not a solution.

[@kitcrft421]

#EATTHERICH

[@penguin32383]

Rich people tend to base a person's character on that person's wealth. Rick people are rich because they have a good character, and vice-versa. So since the court is filled with rich lawyers and judges, they will see wealthy white-collar criminals as morally superior to poor people.

[@dane7584]

This was a very poorly constructed video justifying crime as theft just because even worse crimes like white collar exist. Instead of exploring why white collar crime exists and why it gets a free pass, who is responsible for this situation you basically morally uplift one side in this video. If we can't combat or deal with white collar crime, why not normalize smaller crimes... After a few years not watching Wisecrack, after a few videos just remembered why...

[@deeznuts133]

Most of the video is exploring why white collar crime exists. And it's not morally uplifting petty theft it's just saying it's not the epidemic it's made out to be in the news

[@rangereric18]

I'd send Fox News Corp to prison. They've done more than enough damage to merit a long sentence. No more Hannity for you gramps!

[@GuardianAngle93]

Both of the hardware stores in my area have been heavily targeted by thieves. They stole a pallet of wire. A freaking pallet. Jack and all. Who does that

[@blairclarkjr.4791]

Maintaining the status quo is no longer an option. Physical action must be taken.

[@russellwboss]

I went to Walmart to get something for my girlfriend that I couldn't find elsewhere. I also needed socks. All socks were locked up. They wanted me to go through a separate line to get them because I couldn't touch a $10 bag of black crew socks until I had rendered payment. To render payment, I had to go to customer service, AFTER I waited 20 minutes in line to buy 5 things because self checkout was closed at 2pm. I refused to be demoralized like that. I went sockless.

[@njalsand133]

The biggest tell is usually how few videos actually end up online and how little people actually do to interfere.

[@Thrna_1]

I like how you actually showed an example of you using babbel, and stating the app's courses are designed by humans was great subtle shade at duolingo.

[@WisecrackEDU]

Honestly . . . it's a really fun app that works well, and feels way better than that other one.

[@maryjohnson9337]

I once accidentally shoplifted a workout shirt. I just picked it up from the rack, checked out with a few other things, then got home and discovered an identical shirt was folded inside the one I bought. Whoopsie