Crime Cometh
The latest smash and grab mob store invasion just happened at Nordstrom in San Francisco. 30-50 of young men ran into the San Fran Nordstrom and laid waste. They carried bear mace with them, violently destroyed the area carrying every high-end item that they could. All of this occurred in broad daylight as law abiding citizens spending their hard earned income stood by idly, likely petrified.
Retail theft is now estimated to be a $100 billion annual business loss in America at present… annually. Read that again.
Where is the police response?…oh yes, they have been ordered not to interfere on thefts of under $900. Their numbers are reduced and they may actually not have been able to respond in time. And if they did respond and have and absolutely appropriate physical conflict with these young men, that likely would have led to convictions of the officers, lawsuits, and allegations of brutality. So the police are standing down nationwide, and you are on your own. If you load up the video of the mass looting, imagine to yourself that that is your home and that you are one of the nearby patrons in the isles. Imagine to yourself that someone has broken in, and the police are nowhere to be found. What would you do?
Most of the men have masks and hoods on, yet some exposed their faces. What do you think the chances are that they will be arrested? Closer to 0% or 100%? I’d say zero.
We have an absolute epidemic of crime sweeping this country, and we have not yet even begun to see the downstream effects of 2020. The people committing these acts have been emboldened by the anti-police movement, the cultural precedent of Black Lives Matter, and they threaten to further divide a country that was in many ways on the mend in the 2000s. We are witnessing a cultural breakdown that is likely to regress us 30 years back.
Some on the left side of the media would have you believe that these young men are stealing in order to survive in an unjust capitalist system. They are not stealing food, and rarely are there flash mob crime sprees at a grocery store. They are stealing high-end luggage, merchandise, and they are doing so violently next to paying patrons in the daytime.
Now, before you think yourself that they are stealing nonsense high-end products in a store for the elite, let us refer to what we know about spending habits sound consumer behavior. If you read the book the Millionaire Next Door, written by an economist from SUNY Albany, the average wealthy person rarely purchases luxury products. The average millionaires actually look average. They drive average cars, live in reasonable homes, and do not splurge-purchase. The likely consumers at the Nordstrom which was ransacked by an urban mob are middle class and even lower middle class individuals spending their hard earned income. Just what do you think is going to happen to their "cultural sensitivities” after they witness a group of entitled psychopathic young men smash and grab the products that they are willfully paying for? All while holstering bear mace, by the way. The result will be resentment, and cultural schisms that will last for generations.
The other effect that this crime surge is having on the nation already is that anyone who can manage is fleeing from the city and going to the suburbs and the countryside. We are quite literally creating balkanized regions of crime. Now, businesses are also closing in droves and leaving city centers. San Francisco has the lowest occupancy rate of any American city in terms of spaces rented. Portland is closing city run parking garages because nobody is going downtown, for good reason. What do you think is going to happen when there are no more businesses in the city centers for these miscreants to loot? Where exactly do you think they are going to go? Do you think they will stay put, and sing to one another "well, I guess we will stop committing mass crime. And we certainly won't drive out into the suburbs or go to the places where businesses relocated.” Is that what you think is likely?
And, just what do you think is going to be the defensive response from the places which will be assailed in the future? Remember, when petty crimes, burglaries, and thefts increase all other crimes including violent crimes follow that trend in their wake. Do you think that suburban and township-America is going to stand by idly and essentially let war-lording gangs of young men wreak havoc on them?
The Real Clear Podcast with Dr Lucas Klein is the in-depth analysis and commentary on current political events through a psychological lens. The Real Clear podcast covers a wide range of topics, from the latest election results to policy debates, to exploring the impact of current events on the political landscape.
