r/nottheonion • u/devicto89 • 2d ago

B***h, new laws!' California shoplifting suspect surprised stealing is now a felony

https://www.fox13news.com/news/new-laws-california-shoplifting-suspects-surprised-stealing-felony
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u/bak3donh1gh 1d ago

Fists can end lives too. Hell a unlucky push can do the same.

Although turning shoplifting into a felony seems like just another way to feed the american slavery prison complex.

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u/SunsetPathfinder 1d ago

No private prisons operate in California. 

And there’s an easy answer, don’t want want to be fodder for the prison system? Crazy idea, don’t steal shit.

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u/sajberhippien 1d ago

There is no need for private prisons for the prison-industrial complex, just like the military-industrial complex doesn't require the army to be a literal private company. It needs merely the private sector profiteering off of inmates, such as renting prison labor or selling services to prisons.

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u/nanimous_reddit_user 1d ago

then why is your employer stealing wages from you and other hard-working Americans just brushed under the rug?

don't say "don't want consequences, then don't steal" when we quite literally demonstrate the opposite to corporations everyday w/ our actions as a nation

MILLIONS more are stolen in unpaid wages every year than some idiot taking a TV from best buy yet nobody is ever punished for that...in fact many large businesses get bailouts lol

the way yall ate the boot years ago and never looked back is embarrassing. what a disappointment of a sub

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u/SunsetPathfinder 1d ago

My employer is the US military, and I make a very comfortable mid-rank Officer’s salary for a reasonable amount of work, so no wage theft here that I can see.

And by all means, if your wages are being withheld by your employer, by all means seek restitution! The employer withholding pay should be held just as liable for that theft as the tv criminal, they’re both thieves and should make the entity or person they stole from whole. In fact I bet you’d have lawyers lined up around the block to take your case pro bono to sue your employer! 

Or were you talking about a nebulous concept of “wage theft” as it relates to the debunked labor theory of value, where the difference between the cost of labor and revenue is stolen wages? 

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u/nanimous_reddit_user 9h ago

ah yes, that nebulous concept of wages theft of which the US court systems discovered to be happening in the billions. very much so a myth...in your head alone.

if companies are willing to short their own workers this much in actual paid income you really think they aren't also stealing wages thru paying less than fair compensation for the work being done? what a lack of awareness. your naivety only benefits those above you.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UpliftingNews/s/Pu2xZWuFi9

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u/Ok_Technician7789 1d ago

private prisons are illegal in california

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u/devilpants 1d ago

Yeah but using prisoners as near free labor rented out to companies or the govt is completely legal. They fight out forest fires and make products we consume.

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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 1d ago

Believe it or not, the overwhelming majority of prisoners would prefer to work, even if it's for slave wages.

Its either that or nothing.

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u/devilpants 1d ago edited 1d ago

The alternative is the companies can use the labor, they just pay a fairer wage for it and offer work to the prisoners when they leave if they are good workers.

It isn’t the choice between almost zero wage and no work.

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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 1d ago

Prison labour isn't very valuable, so they can't really command fair wages.

There is no demand for prison labour at market rates.

Its more about giving prisoners something to do than making massive profits from their labour. The profits made really aren't that substantial.

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u/Klickor 1d ago

People on Reddit are idiots and don't seem to understand that prison labour has a ton of costs associated with it that non prison labour don't have to deal with.

For every X amount of low paid and low skilled workers the company also has to pay for Y amount of relatively expensive (compared to the prisoners) Security personnel.

A normal worker who doesn't show up to work is likely to get fired and lose their income and likely their home and maybe even family too. What are they gonna do if a prisoner wants to sleep in? The system that regulates behaviors at a workplace works differently when the incentives are different. Unless it is literally run like a slavery operation there will be additional hurdles and costs from this.

There is a lot more risk and costs than normal labour so the real benefit from it is that prisoners get something to do that gives them purpose and experience. Just like for people who have disabilities that make it so they can never be profitable but they still get to do menial work for pennies and then have their living situation paid for by the state.

If having these things be run in a way that everyone gets at least minimum wage defeats the entire purpose of having it from the beginning with the only end result that the opportunity would be removed from everyone and now prisoners and also as in the other scenario, special needs people, would be worse off than before because stupid Redditors want them to rot in their cell/room because their ideology demands everyone getting paid the same (even when they cost money).

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u/SaintNich99 1d ago

I love defending slavery as an economic model.

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u/devilpants 1d ago edited 11h ago

I have a degree in economics from a top .1% university. I understand there are extra costs. Those extra costs don't justify paying literally pennies for the labor they receive. The prisoners have no ability to negotiate their pay, so there is no fair market even if you include any extra costs or reduced value of the labor. The companies and govt that get the labor sign these ridiculous deals which is just hugely subsidized labor provided by the state.

In California prisoners fight forest fires for $6 - $10 / day or less. A "real" firefighter with real negotiating power is at minimum making closer to 100x that amount along with benefits and better labor protections. If a prisoner was making $7.50/hr, everyone would still benefit from the transaction and the prisoners labor would still be utilized.

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u/ImBlackup 1d ago

The children yearn for the mines

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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 1d ago

Salt isn't gonna mine itself

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u/sajberhippien 1d ago

Believe it or not, the overwhelming majority of robbery victims would prefer to hand over their wallets.

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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 1d ago

Being in prison is typically a person's own fault. They have time to spend, and would usually like to do something with that time rather than sit there or do push-ups.

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u/sajberhippien 1d ago

Similarly, being robbed of your wallet is typically a persons own fault; they usually deliberately got a wallet, just for starters.

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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 1d ago

Ahh yes, robbery victims and convicted criminals are the same thing and not actually opposites.

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u/Ok_Technician7789 1d ago

this is probably the most reddit comment ive read in a few weeks.

Lmao.

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u/MetalMania1321 1d ago

You typed this out, pressed post, and thought you did something, didn't you?

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u/InitialCold7669 1d ago

They prefer it because they are treated poorly and they want to get out of that poor treatment A lot of the people that want to get rid of prison labor want to make prisons good enough to wear prisoners would not have that mindset. We believe in raising the level of care for everyone in society.

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u/Inevitable_Heron_599 1d ago

Well you can look at prison as one of two things: punitive or rehabilitating.

If it's rehabilitating then make it comfortable. If it's punitive, make it punishing. Norway has a more rehabilitating type of justice system. Hard to say if that's a good idea in America. I think many criminals are too stupid in America to be rehabilitating, personally.

In America, the justice system is more punitive than rehabilitating. Thats how it is. You may not like it, but that doesn't change it. You could push for change, if you care so much. Best of luck, and I hope you succeed.

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u/InitialCold7669 1d ago

It literally doesn't matter Private entities can still rent labor from government prisons and they still don't have to pay minimum wage. Trying to launder the issue of slavery through the criminal justice system is my real issue with it. That and all of the poor treatment that people receive in prison.

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u/Property_6810 1d ago

Ok, so what's your solution then? If you're against the store being allowed to intervene, and against harsh penalties to deter bad actions, what are you actually for?

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u/DarkMenstrualWizard 1d ago

Pay people living wages for regular jobs?

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u/InitialCold7669 1d ago

For what we have now If you can't catch him on camera you don't have a charge camera is way better because they're just going to see the shoplifter and then give them whatever small punishment or fine is necessary. Giving people life altering felonies for taking things is kind of ridiculous. In any case I would not support felonies for shoplifters until we get felonies for price gouging during the pandemic which was illegal as well. Also felonies for wage theft The c-suite of every company should be filled with felons because they break the law all the time