Socializing Shoplifting

Did you know that the City of Chicago has a Food Equity Council? That Chicago's mayor and his minions are seeking to address a 'historic disinvestment in food access?'

I'll take a moment here while you scratch your head over the concepts of "food equity" and "food access."

<pause>

If it still has you muttering WTAF, allow me to add some ingredients to your brain salad.

Earlier this year, Walmart announced that it is closing four of its Chicago locations. The reason? Not only have the stores never been profitable, their annual losses doubled in the last five years. Last year, Whole Foods closed two Chicago stores, for similar reasons.

Excuses abound, along with vague allegations of racism and classism, but it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out the root cause: unchecked shoplifting.

A problem created by government policy, that persists due to the intransigence of the policy creators, and that has affected far more businesses than two corporate behemoths, shoplifting in blue cities is the "smack of reality" that those who think crime would simply go away if cops were removed from the equation refuse to acknowledge.

In true double-down fashion, Chicago's solution isn't to reassess the laws and enforcement (or lack thereof) that have prompted the 'historic disinvestment in food access.' Instead, it's looking into open its own, city-owned grocery store.

Holy [redacted] [redacted] [redacted]! What could possibly go wrong?

Do they think that the shoplifters might relent because a store is owned by the government, rather than Evil Corp? Or are we safer in assuming that this is how they will paper over the harm done by their policies?

Rhetorical question.

The bigger issue is - if a business that actually cares about making a profit can't figure out how to mitigate shoplifting enough to stay open, what will happen when a business with no care to profitability encounters said shoplifters?

We both know. The taxpayers of Chicago will underwrite the thefts that will continue to occur, and likely will underwrite a lot more than Walmart or Whole Foods lost, because no one is as careful with OPM as they are with their own. The paying customers of city-owned markets are also likely to be quite disappointed with them, in comparison with Whole Foods and even the much-mocked Walmart. Selection and service are bound to stink.

American socialists, today, seem to consider shoplifting as merely another form of wealth redistribution. There’s a growing attitude regarding entitlement to Other People’s Money, to some sort of right to decide that someone else has more than he needs and so it’s OK to take some of it. And, now, if rampant shoplifting cause the private sector to flee, no worries, the government will offer up a fresh target.

It's not the government's money, after all, so why should the politicians care if it gets stolen? That, or they'll apply the Medicare model: underpay suppliers and thereby force them to overcharge everyone else. Either way, shoplifters get to continue their thieving ways, and the pols that made that lifestyle lucrative and risk-free get to continue pretending they didn't screw up royally with their "reforms."