[bpt3]

Maybe we bring it up because non-Americans (and low income Americans with a lot of free time, i.e. young people) do nothing but describe America as a hellscape online, and it's hard data that demonstrates the benefit of our economic system instead of just debating about a wildly inaccurate caricature.

You don't probably meet many Americans raving about the quality of life in rural Romania, and they may not be so enthralled with the European lifestyle once they saw their paycheck and the living situation it would provide.

[jorvi]

> and it's hard data that demonstrates the benefit of our economic system instead of just debating about a wildly inaccurate caricature.

https://www.axios.com/2024/08/11/retail-theft-cvs-walgreens-...

Literally locking up $9 worth of fruit juice.

As far as non-walkability goes, just watch the top three videos of the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes: https://youtube.com/@notjustbikes

As far as tent camps / drug streets go, I can post videos from San Francisco, Philadelphia, LA, Oakwood, etc. but you’ll bring up it’s “only a Pacific problem”, despite Californian (together with New England) cities often being brought up as the examples for well done cities that compare well to “European”-style cities.

So much for “wildly inaccurate caricature”.

[aidenn0]

The article you link is hardly a slam dunk; it contains, for example, this:

> Yes, but: There is some debate about how deep the problem is and if retailers are using theft as a scapegoat for other challenges.

Things being locked up are very regional. Long Beach: seems like 50% of all things are locked up. Santa Barbara: hardly anything locked up.

[jorvi]

It just blows my mind that anything below, say, $75 is locked up at all.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen food items locked up in Europe, aside from genuine Parmesan, Iberico or expensive alcohol, and even then not consistently. Usually even the lower priced non-food stuff (think a $50 space heater) isn’t locked up.

Don’t get me wrong, we have smash and dash thieves here too, but usually they go for jewelry stores, fashion stores or Apple / electronic stores.

[aidenn0]

Thieves go for things that are easy to fence. For a while Tide-brand laundry detergent was famously easy to fence in some cities[1], so places had to lock up Tide.

[edit]

Teenagers who shoplift also go for things that are embarrassing or illegal for them to buy (condoms and alcohol respectively). So those are likely to be locked up as well.

1: My understanding is that drug-dealers &c. would accept payment in Tide and then sell that to organized crime, that would wholesale it to mom+pop corner stores.

[jorvi]

Thank you for all the context so far!

That Tide factoid is darkly humorous. The selling it back to stores part makes me think of The Wire, Omar stealing a heroin shipment from Prop Joe and then selling it back to him: https://youtu.be/-q2LWHZ6O_M

In America’s defense, I’ll say that certain things are done much better than Europe.

There’s is certainly a better awareness/acceptance that growth = good. The entrepreneurial spirit also runs much stronger in your culture.

National (well, global) security is taken much more seriously, which I feel like is a facet of American federalization and thus unity. You won’t see a combined (and certainly not unified) European army for at least another few decades, everything thinks their own interests, independence and pride are too important.

[lotsoweiners]

I’ve lived my entire life in America (over 40 years) and I’ve never seen any food item “locked up”. I think that would be an indication that you are in a shitty area. Similar to the pictures I’ve seen of Burger King employees working behind bulletproof glass.

[Dalewyn]

>So much for “wildly inaccurate caricature”.

You're flaunting your ignorance (or naivety) of America for all to see, though.

Most stores, even in internet-stereotype "hellscapes" like San Francisco, don't lock up bottles of fruit juice among other sundries. Anyone who actually lives here would know that, like me.

>As far as tent camps / drug streets go

Only a problem in the real megalopolises like the cities you just named. The vast majority of cities (and there are countless many in this literally vast country) are generally fine (some level of crime and homelessness will always exist as a matter of nature). Again, anyone living here would know that.

Internet memes are fun, but if you're going to passionately argue about something you would be wise to actually do your homework first.

[bpt3]

> Literally locking up $9 worth of fruit juice.

Yes, in a high crime area. It's article-worthy because it's an anomaly. The only thing locked up in stores in my area is drugs.

> As far as non-walkability goes, just watch the top three videos of the YouTube channel Not Just Bikes: https://youtube.com/@notjustbikes

lol ok, am I supposed to take this as an unbiased source?

> As far as tent camps / drug streets go, I can post videos from San Francisco, Philadelphia, LA, Oakwood, etc. but you’ll bring up it’s “only a Pacific problem”, despite Californian (together with New England) cities often being brought up as the examples for well done cities that compare well to “European”-style cities.

See above. You continue to cherry pick examples that no one is denying exist and pretend they are ubiquitous.

Maybe I should go take some videos of homeless in central London or Paris and claim that's representative of the entire EU?

> So much for “wildly inaccurate caricature”.

Thanks for proving my point.

[jghn]

> do nothing but describe America as a hellscape online

To be fair, the largest news network in the US spends a lot of time doing the exact same thing

[aidenn0]

> You don't probably meet many Americans raving about the quality of life in rural Romania

Actually you probably do, but such raving is about as valuable as residents of NYC raving about the quality of life in upstate New York -- it's a case of stated preferences vs. revealed preferences.

[otikik]

It's the gofundmes of people with cancer that paints the negative picture to me, not the young americans.