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by brigadier132 966 days ago
Just imagine how much more abundance we would have if we didn't need to build all these security measures to deter bad actors. We are all paying more because of these thieves.
4 comments

Yes, that would definitely translate into abundance for all and not an extra 2% return to the owners.
Learn what deadweight loss is. These costs are born by everyone, what percent of the cost is born by which parties is determined by the competitiveness of markets. Normal, law abiding, people are absolutely bearing the cost of bad actors.

We bear the cost in the form of needing to pay for police, surveillance cameras, security guards, security software, the justice system, lawyers, and jail cells. The money lost from each stolen good is spread across all other goods in the form of price increases, etc.

The shareholders who contribute nothing of value and yet still require more and more wealth be extracted from retailers? Yeah, we’re definitely all paying more because of those thieves.
Learn what deadweight loss is. These costs are born by everyone, what percent of the cost is born by which parties is determined by the competitiveness of markets. Normal, law abiding, people are absolutely bearing the cost of bad actors.

We bear the cost in the form of needing to pay for police, surveillance cameras, security guards, security software, the justice system, lawyers, jail cells. The money lost from each stolen good is spread across all other goods in the form of price increases, etcetera.

> shareholders who contribute nothing of value

They are shareholders because someone presumably at some point contributed something to society which resulted in them earning money to invest.

> someone presumably at some point contributed something to society

Even if that is true, which it’s not: in a shockingly high number of cases it is actually harming society that got people money. Even if it is true in a specific case - this premise implies that someone at one point contributing something to society entitles them to drain money from everybody else forever.

We all understand how we bear the cost of theft, but i don’t believe that theft is caused by bad people - it’s an inherent byproduct of a system that REQUIRES poverty to function.

> Even if that is true, which it’s not

It is absolutely true for the vast majority of capital owners.

> entitles them to drain money from everybody else forever

They are not "draining money" by owning capital that produces goods that are then sold for money.

Shareholding is a lawful contract and therefore not theft.
Worst justification ever. Is this satire? History is full of legal things that were theft. Take your pick: the british crown taking land from whomeever. Slavery, chattel and indentured. Redlining. The potato famine.

Stealing from those who can afford it, in order to meet your basic needs (housing, food, etc) is not wrong. While taking the fruits of other’s labour because you have money, when you know the result is others not being able to afford their basic needs, is wrong.

> imagine how much more abundance we would have if we didn't need to build all these security measures to deter bad actors

This article has plenty of information about the fact that companies aren't building in security measures because they don't want to pay.

Or to put it another way: think about how much better shopping experiences we'd all have if stores weren't constantly understaffed. But they are, and so shopping sucks and shoplifters proliferate.

Think about how much easier it would be if teenagers didn't fuck.

But teenagers do fuck, so we must deal with the reality of the human condition.

Imagine thinking "having relationships and growing like nearly every human being has in the history of the species" is in any way comparable to "stealing a bunch of shit from Target."
You cannot solve a problem if you cannot accept the reality of the current situation.
So expect better of them. Don't make excuses for failure.