Tuesday, 29 August 2023

The Wit And Wisdom Of Martha Gill...

What to do about shoplifting? It’s a delicate subject.
Is it, Martha? Why?
Shoplifting is not quite like other crimes.
How does it differ, then?
Pilfering, purloining, filching, snaffling – it is by nature relatively trivial, the sort of thing children try their hands at without necessarily graduating to car heists and bank jobs.
I thank my stars I clearly didn't have your upbringing, then. Because theft is theft, whether we are talking about nicking baby powder from Boots or bullion from Brinks Mat. 

And it may be 'relatively trivial' in your mind, but not when done on an organised scale to the big supermarkets or the hard-pressed sole proprietor. It's not trivial when staff are threatened or assaulted. 
...most of all, shoplifting is a crime that seems to reflect social need: it rises when the economy dips.

Ah, of course. The fact that organised gangs are now behind it, or drug addicts stealing to sell for their next fix, is ignored; in Martha's feeble brain, it's always Jean Valjean stealing a loaf of bread... 

Not only does “cracking down” on shoplifters through the criminal justice system raise difficult moral problems, it doesn’t even work.

Since when has combating theft - or any crime - caused a 'difficult moral problem'..? Surely not cracking down causes that, as we can see in California, as David Thompson's readership is quick to point out?  

Technology has made breaking the law much harder. The use of deadlocks has decimated car theft...

And the use of keyless entry has increased it again. Technology is always a two-edged sword.  

Yet in many modern shops, we have the opposite phenomenon. Although some security measures have increased, with door alarms and beeping tags, in other ways theft has become easier. Once goods were kept behind counters, but since the birth of large supermarkets they have been laid out near the door, ready for the taking. Automated self check-out means the customer in effect monitors their own behaviour. Staff levels have dropped precipitously.

Yes, and women wearing short skirts increases rape, eh, Martha? 

10 comments:

  1. Shoplifting is theft. A shoplifters is a thief. If a prolific thief is caught and arrested, the penalty is usually fairly small, if one is given at all. One way we dealt with this, several years ago, was that the victim (The store, shop, or whatever), have the offender a legal document that he/she/they were banned from that shop, or all chains of that store. The next time they were arrested for theft, they were charged with burglary (entered a premises, or part of a premises, as a trespasser, and stole), a much more serious offence. Plus, if they were carrying a knife or other weapon, the charge of aggravated burglary, and the possibility of heavy jail time, made them concentrate their minds somewhat.
    Oh, they were good days.
    Penseivat

    ReplyDelete
  2. Shoplifting is a gateway to other more serious crime. Every robber, burglar and car thief started with shoplifting and laughed at the pathetic sentencing and moved up the ladder.
    These Lefties don't live in the real world.
    Jaded

    ReplyDelete
  3. Shoplifting is the crime du jour, because stealing from cars is less productive now that radios are tailored to each model and aren't the previous 'one size fits all' add-on. I once had a radio stolen from a car, causing £1000 damage to the dash, and £700 damage to a window (and that was back in the mid 1980s) but no loss regarding the radio which didn't work and was only there to fill up the hole.
    I refuse to believe that any shoplifter is 'in need' in this country and in this day and age. You have to be in a fairly well-paid job to have the same disposable income as someone on benefits because of governmental greedy tax take and the costs of commuting to work.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The Martha Gills of this world can never admit that there are any bad people or that anyone can actually be poor and it be their own fault. In parts of the US shoplifting is pretty much being given a free pass. Predictably, stores in shitty areas are closing as they can't stay solvent due to all the pilfering. So look out for Martha crying pitifully over people with no transport and no money for bus fares having to walk for miles to do their shopping.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Once goods were kept behind counters, but since the birth of large supermarkets they have been laid out near the door, ready for the taking

    The "modern" department store has pretty much been a feature of large metropolitan areas since the 1930's. The "modern" grocery store from the 40's to 50's. Organized and unchallenged large scale theft is pretty recent.

    Martha Gills looks pretty young, but does she remember nothing of her youth? Ten years ago? or is it always Year Zero for her kind?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I see areas of cities in USA are now bereft of supermarkets due to this trivial it's-not-really-a-crime. Cause meet effect.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I suppose that the one (only?) excellent point about sharia law is the disincentive to thieving. Prolific thieves are a bit like someone with two broken arms - it's rather difficult to get dressed amongst other routine taskes (well, this is a "family blog" after all!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have observed over the decades that ... how a person views a particular type of crime, and what they deem an appropriate punishment for it, is entirely based on ... the likelihood that 'they themselves' see of them committing such a crime (even in extremis).

    So, what's the betting that Martha is, or wants to be, a closet klepto? Very high I suspect.

    (if I were a store security type I'd be following and watching her like a hawk after this 'admission' - how long before she's in front of the magistrates, as so many of these 'journalists defending criminals' are themselves for 'the very crimes they [faux objectively] defend').

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ascribing any motive to a Leftist's thinking is missing the obvious - that they are actually grossly stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  10. "Oh, they were good days."

    Is it too late to bring them back?

    "Shoplifting is a gateway to other more serious crime. "

    Remember 'Broken Windows Theory'? It was all the rage once. And it was true.

    "I refuse to believe that any shoplifter is 'in need' in this country..."

    Me too.

    "So look out for Martha crying pitifully over people with no transport and no money for bus fares having to walk for miles to do their shopping."

    It does seem to be her sole talent.

    "...or is it always Year Zero for her kind?"

    Spot on!

    "I see areas of cities in USA are now bereft of supermarkets due to this trivial it's-not-really-a-crime. Cause meet effect."

    And when America sneezes, we eventually catch that cold...

    "I suppose that the one (only?) excellent point about sharia law is the disincentive to thieving."

    A true deterrent!

    "...is entirely based on ... the likelihood that 'they themselves' see of them committing such a crime (even in extremis)."

    Gosh!

    "Ascribing any motive to a Leftist's thinking is missing the obvious - that they are actually grossly stupid."

    Or lacking in true compassion - for the real victims?

    ReplyDelete