No, it doesn’t. Look at the contents of the British museum and tell me, by dollar amount, who the biggest thieves are there. It’s not the poor.
In the US, the biggest source of theft is time card theft from employers, followed closely by asset forfeiture (cops stealing). Poverty doesn’t breed immorality, that’s some classist bullshit.
Yeah that’s ideologically creamy and everything but the rising cost of food has definitely led to me stealing it. I just don’t happen to think it’s immoral. If I see a food item I regularly consume literally double in price, at that point it’s the seller being immoral. These kind of price hikes have become a regular occurrence, as well as the removal of budget versions of products from the shelves.
What if you suddenly got poorer though? Say if you became homeless and it was somewhat visible you were poor? I bet you wouldn’t steal then, because you’d know you’d get caught - people hate the poor and homeless and associate them with morality and would assume you’d steal.
That you steal food is understandable but not a given. Some people go to food banks instead. Some grow food. Some beg with signs instead of steal. Some qualify for food stamps. Theft is usually a rich to middle class thing because they can weather the consequences better. Most poor people do not steal material goods like that from stores because they already know how to be poor and live on nothing without resorting to thievery (or else they are already incarcerated).
No, I’m very poor. I’ve been homeless, I’ve used food banks and I literally used to run a vegetable farm, so it’s very funny you would suggest I grow food.
Man that’s some boogie opinion. Ofc rich people steal and they steal much larger amounts but in my poor ass neighborhood my friend got his shoes stolen and me my bike. In the hallway. By my neighbor who repainted it and just kept it there. And once I got even fucking candy stolen out of my hand. Poor people totally shit on each other and take what they can.
OTOH I don’t consider it immoral to steal from e.g. a supermarket, I couldn’t care less that the profit margin of some conglomerate decreases.
I’m not talking about that theft but petty theft (under $1000)
You are right though, there are much worse theives out there
In the US, petty theft can be accrued into 1 charge until it’s a felony. Eg you shoplift at Target 10 times over a few years, even at separate Targets, and as soon as you total over the threshold for a felony they will charge you. And again, with inflation, that threshold gets smaller every year.
