People don't steal cars and bikes to buy food, they do it because they're selfish and want a shortcut to get the things they want. In any first world country there are ways to get food without resorting to taking other peoples' possessions that they worked hard for.
There are many people out there having a really hard time who would never even think about stealing because they were raised with a functioning moral compass.
In a free market, all transactions are voluntary. "Selfishness" just means that you only agree to a transaction if it benefits you. But the other party will only agree if it benefits them, so it's a win-win.
Thievery, OTOH, is not voluntary for the victim, and is, at best, a win-lose. Not at all the same as a free market transaction.
Theft has the highest recidivism rate too[1]. You can never trust someone who has stolen again, thieves are the scum of the earth and only hurt good people.
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-...
Sure, we should punish crime but never solving the root problem and taking a "hardline" approach towards the symptoms feels good. But, it puts us in a perpetual state of law enforcement and anxiety about crime.
Agencies like the DEA should be abolished and possession/use of drugs should not equal prison time or anything on your record. Of course, things like driving impaired are still punished because you're endangering others.
College should not be expensive or put you into debt for decades. In the US, we need a general cultural shift away from hyper individualism and unregulated capitalism.
Sweden's welfare state is a left wing dream come true, however the bad news for the left is that it empirically disproves every left wing idea about crime and society.