Hacker News Reader

Comment by et-al | Hacker News Reader

> This isn’t unique to Walgreens this is affecting independent convenience stores and markets as well and it’s really disheartening to witness on a nearly day to day basis.

This needs to be repeated.

Some left leaning folks like to say "oh it's Walgreens, they're a corporation and the losses are immaterial."

When this happens to independent mom & pop shops, they close up much sooner.

View on HN

> left leaning

I don't think it's benefitting us to lump all left-leaning people together. What you're describing is an extremism problem on the left that has largely gone unaddressed or downplayed that is highly agitating, divisive, and nonsensical. As anyone can point out this happened on the right too, and in that time it became fashionable to consolidate all conservatives, but I'd remind you this behavior was absolutely wrong. I encourage all average constituents to push back on extremism in their own parties, very vocally, so that we're less dependent on this cross talk correction.

> left leaning folks

Are you for real? That is far left thinking, where reason was pushed out by ideology. Not left leaning folks.

Its absolutely moronic not going after crime, all it is doing is incentivize people who break it.

The stories of current SF sounds like that meme of a dog sipping a tea in a house on fire saying 'this is fine'.

Left leaning folks will generally not support shoplifting/theft, however many will often qualify with "oh, but at least it's a large corporation, it's not right but they will survive", which is what I think the parent was referring to.

So, CA has massive and growing wealth inequality that has resisted carceral solutions for over three decades. The prisons are already overflowing, and federal courts have ordered the state to reduce its prison population which requires "soft on crime" policies like this. There's literally no legal alternative except to go on a prison-building spree. Glad you found a stimulating meme reference point though.

Well current state of affairs is clearly not working, and you propose to continue doing it?

That's the definition of madness.

If you fall into swamp, not moving will buy you time, but will still lead to drowning.

> except to go on a prison-building spree

Okay, let's do that instead. I'd way prefer to have more prisons than for theft to be legal.

The fact that anyone can see rampant crime in their community and think "that's okay, the victims of this crime are people I don't like anyway" and just ignore it is insane to me.

As a Brit I'm always shocked when visiting America and the high levels of crime and desperate people. I'm talking clearly mentally ill people in wheelchairs on street corners. No-go zones (for white people). Open selling of drugs near tourist hotspots with young families nearby.

It's like a weird mix of a wealthy 1st world country with all the problems of a 3rd world one.

Here in the UK we clearly have our own problems, but stuff like this just wouldn't be tolerated.

Agree. Every time I visited the US it was worse. The desperation, the trash, the roads full of holes, the broken down cars, clearly crazy people walking the streets. Mixed with little islands of smug self-important doing-well people who clearly didn’t care about the misery surrounding their little island. We are no longer planning to visit the US. It is too depressing.

One thing that surprised me last time I was in London were the signs everywhere warning about people in bikes snatching your phone.

Or no go towns for black people. I feel like america demonstrates the worst and best society has to offer.

> Or no go towns for black people.

Yes of course - but I'm white so was just describing my experience.

I visited SF a few years ago on a road trip and was very shocked by all the smashed car windows and feared for my car. This third world vibe intertwined with pricey restaurants was unreal. Added on top of people screaming in the streets and a public freakout (of rich people) in a room in my hotel with police coming in the middle of the night, I ended up really scared of the craziness of that city.

An extreme contrast between poor and rich is common in third world countries. In many poor nations, you can find high end places for the ultra-wealthy not too far from slums. What I'm saying is that you're not seeing "third world intertwined with pricey restaurants", you're simply getting the full third world vibe in SF.

This. I was in Pune, 5* hotel district. One foot out of the district and boom you are metal scrap district. I think its probably understandable that poorest allocate close to the richest - better left overs, hand wave charity etc. (Charity is good, but just giving money to drug addicts is not really working out, just to clarify distinction)

It was really odd experience, but I was the only one from the hotel traversing the city map on foot. In the night a lot of folks without "metal scrap real estate" would spawn at the edges of the district, put a card board and sleep. They would sleep there since its safe and nobody had heart to force them out in the night. Daytime different story -> go be someones else problem.

SF was not this crazy, but similar vibes.

I think they see it as less crime as asset redistribution. The wealth that they feel ought to have been transferred by taxes is being taken more directly in the sense of Anatole France's "The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor ... to steal bread."

Nb: I am explaining a viewpoint not taking a position myself

the knuckleheads will tell your insurance covers everything as if business is in to lose money guaranteed...

Some "left leaning folks"? Are you legitimately attempting to politicize theft?

Unfortunately, it already is. See the looting =reparations that was common on social media during the blm riots. Similarly, the "fuck the corporations, it's just property" crowd that was really prevalent on reddit then. Those are both solidly left, just as qanon is solidly right.

Amp links cause I'm on mobile

https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/reparati...

I think saying these fringe "political" groups are "solidly left" or "solidly right" really feeds into the hate and divisiveness they are designed to create. They're all either misled and disinformed or misleading and disinforming. They have no place in politics and are largely designed to generate that "us vs them" mentality. These groups are the fringest of the fringe and are far from "solid"

I believe you might be misunderstanding me here. I mean you're not going to find left-aligned people supporting QAnon, while the same applies to BLM reparations talk for the right.

https://news.yahoo.com/reparations-black-lives-matter-holds-...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com