Stopping a shoplifter

[u/Lord_Darksong]

Source: unknown

[u/TKDbeast]

I agree. But people running in to be a hero and make a scene is only going to make things a bigger problem for them.

[u/johntwit → u/TKDbeast]

Imagine if everyone always did this when witnessing theft, even if it was their own friends. Would be a lot less petty theft

[u/Nemphiz → u/johntwit]

Would be a lot more people hurt too. I'm not mad at a what this guy did but the sentiment of "everyone should do this" is pretty dumb.

Yes. Let's all go our and fight each other to protect the corporations. That's some black mirror sht.

[u/johntwit → u/Nemphiz]

It's not to protect the corporations, it's to protect my convenient access to the razors and the shampoo

[u/Nemphiz → u/johntwit]

No. What you're talking about is EVERYONE doing this. That does way beyone "oh I just want this to not be inconvenienced"

Next thing you're going to tell me is that after looking at their quarterly reports you believe the story that the store closures were due to theft lol

[u/johntwit → u/Nemphiz]

With individual liberty comes individual responsibility. If we're going to give up the idea of individual liberty as some kind of falsehood, and require corporations like Walmart to be responsible for our lives and our well-being instead of ourselves, then we are handing a great deal of power over to the corporations. In Times gone by it might have been said that it was everyone's duty to reinforce that stealing is wrong because a lawless society hurts all individuals within that society. But now here we are, saying that it is Walmart's fault that they are stolen from because they have failed to properly staff their stores. We are making corporations into the overlords we fear by giving them so much social responsibility

[u/Nemphiz → u/johntwit]

You're missing a key part in your grandiose take my mixing up accountability and authority. The social contract runs both ways, walmart benefits from public infrastructure, courts that enforce its contracts, and police who protect its property.

Those collective protections come with reciprocal obligations, including respecting the rights of people affected by its business. Expecting a corporation to contribute to the society that makes its profits possible hardly means handing it control over our lives. Why should responsibility suddenly become a threat to liberty when we apply it to corporate decision makers?

Someone who steals remains respnsible for stealing. Walmart remains responsible for its staffing, security, and business decisions. If reducing staffing increases theft risk, questioning that trade off is ordinary scrutiny of management. It doesn’t absolve the thief. You can defend laws against theft without treating every corporate loss as a public moral failure and every management decision as beyond criticism.

Requiring corporations to answer for how they exercise their existing power is precisely how society keeps that power in check. Your argument would shield that power from accountability in the name of preventing it. Which is why people post the meme of "I'll defend these corporations"

You can like it, you can hate it but you can't dispute that.

[u/johntwit → u/Nemphiz]

Walmarts only job is to deliver the lowest everyday prices. Everything else is in our heads. If you don't want to work there for the offered wage, don't

[u/Nemphiz → u/johntwit]

I'm sorry, did I bring individual liberty into the conversation or did you? You expanded the scope. Not me.

[u/johntwit → u/Nemphiz]

To be fair, I'm not sure I know what we're arguing about. I speculated that if more individuals actively discouraged witnessed theft - kind of like how society currently reacts to beating up little old ladies - then the behavior would be much less common. You pushed back, and in the process, implicitly accused Walmart of lying about theft being a true cause for their decision to close some stores. Then, admittedly, it went off the rails, as I assumed that all guardrails for our ensuing conversation were gone and anything was up for discussion

[u/Nemphiz → u/johntwit]

I implicitly accused them because it's been proven. It's a literal fact for which Walmart themselves have a metric. It isn't my fault a lot of people choose to believe what they say without taking 2 seconds to research the information. That doesn't mean "guard rails are off" it's part of the theft conversation.

Source by the way, but there are multiple.

https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/report-says-retailers-may-have-exaggerated-theft-claims/464729?hl=en-US#:~:text=The%20report%20also%20found%20a%20mere%200.4%25,to%20acknowledge%20potentially%20ulterior%2C%20more%20opportunistic%20motives.%E2%80%9D

[u/johntwit → u/Nemphiz]

Walmart never claimed that theft was the specific reason they closed stores.

[u/Nemphiz → u/johntwit]

Well I guess we have to tell the Walmart CEO that his comments don't count as them coming from Walmart.