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by giantg2 1138 days ago
"and is far more harmful to society than the actual crime."

I doubt the victims see it that way. If we just let people steal, it can turn into a runaway chain reaction due to a lack of consequences.
2 comments
rini17 1138 days ago
You imply that if you were the victim, watching such byzantine process to recover mere hundreds of dollars would feel satisfying to you?
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giantg2 1138 days ago
No, but the idea that there are disincentives for others to make me a repeat victim is nice.

"mere hundreds of dollars"

This is incredibly insensitive. That's a lot of money to lose to many people.

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rini17 1137 days ago
It also results in a disincentives for all parties involved to invest all the time and effort. You could either convince everyone that "don't be insensitive it's a lot of money for them", or you could try to make the process easier.
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giantg2 1137 days ago
That's not what was suggested. The suggestion was to simply not prosecute a theft of about $900.
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rini17 1134 days ago
Yes the disincentive, right here in plain view.
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naijaboiler 1138 days ago
That's not how society works.
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esyir 1138 days ago
That is exactly how society works.

If people work for my living and see someone just steal for theirs with absolutely no consequence, what they learn is that social dysfunction is optimal, and that doing otherwise is being a chump.

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gentoo 1138 days ago
how about we build a robust social safety net so that stealing less than $1000 worth of stuff is not the best way to survive
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giantg2 1138 days ago
Please re-read your parent. Same concept here. If you make it that comfortable, then why work? Keep in mind that there will always be people who want things the programs won't provide that they're literally willing to kill for - drugs, the newest iPhone, in-style basketball shoes, etc.

Now, I do agree in a parallel way, but with a different solution. If we fix structural problems preventing people from being, or having hope of being, productive members of society, than that can prevent some crime.

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apple4ever 1137 days ago
If that's what you want to try, okay that's fine. But do that first, not second. It helps neither side to do it second.
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