Behold, the single greatest innovation of capitalism!

[GenesisNemesis]

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-grocery-store-installed-security-measures-21138800.php

At the Safeway on San Francisco’s King Street, you now can’t leave the store unless you buy something. The Mission Bay grocery store recently installed new anti-theft measures at the entrance and exit.

New gates at the entrance automatically swing open when customers walk in, but they’re set to trigger an alarm if someone attempts to back out. And if you walk into Safeway and change your mind about grocery shopping, you might find yourself trapped: Another gate that only opens if you scan your receipt blocks the store’s sole exit.

 

[Derec]

That's not an innovation of capitalism.

It's an innovation based on the city/state not doing enough to deter blatant retail theft.
Just like locking up oft stolen items behind glass or a cage.

 

[thebeave]

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-grocery-store-installed-security-measures-21138800.php

At the Safeway on San Francisco’s King Street, you now can’t leave the store unless you buy something. The Mission Bay grocery store recently installed new anti-theft measures at the entrance and exit.

New gates at the entrance automatically swing open when customers walk in, but they’re set to trigger an alarm if someone attempts to back out. And if you walk into Safeway and change your mind about grocery shopping, you might find yourself trapped: Another gate that only opens if you scan your receipt blocks the store’s sole exit.

There has been a lot of shoplifting from SF stores to the point where the stores have to close permanently or put their products behind locked cages/cabinets. This actually seems like one of the more reasonable solutions to me, though obviously there is still some inconvenience here. What is your solution to dealing with the rampant shoplifting problem?

 

[Bronzeage]

Seems kind of pointless. As my father used to say, "Locks are to keep honest people out." I haven't seen a store gate I couldn't hop over. It might be a violation of the fire code.

 

[bilby]

What is your solution to dealing with the rampant shoplifting problem?

Employ well paid staff, instead of having self-checkout. The presence of these staff is a deterrent, and the increase in jobs in the area reduces the number of people who are pushed into crime by poverty.

Retailers dumped all their employees, and then acted all surprised when shoplifting skyrocketed - and demanded that "something be done", by which (of course) they mean "something we don't have to pay for". They wanted to externalise the cost of security, and even the cost of scanning groceries and collecting payment, onto the wider community. Well, I for one feel zero sympathy for their resulting self-inflicted victimhood.

 

[scombrid]

Dumping negative externalities on the public while retaining private profit is the epitome of capitalism.

 

[laughing dog]

https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/sf-grocery-store-installed-security-measures-21138800.php

At the Safeway on San Francisco’s King Street, you now can’t leave the store unless you buy something. The Mission Bay grocery store recently installed new anti-theft measures at the entrance and exit.

New gates at the entrance automatically swing open when customers walk in, but they’re set to trigger an alarm if someone attempts to back out. And if you walk into Safeway and change your mind about grocery shopping, you might find yourself trapped: Another gate that only opens if you scan your receipt blocks the store’s sole exit.

If you can’t get out without buying something, aren’t you being held for ransom?

 

[pood]

U.S. society is swiftly descending into insanity.

 

[pood]

That's not an innovation of capitalism.

It's an innovation based on the city/state not doing enough to deter blatant retail theft.
Just like locking up oft stolen items behind glass or a cage.

Leave it to Derec to defend this insanity.

If you want to curb shoplifting, how about setting up a social and economic system in which people are fairly paid for their labor and can afford food and housing instead of living in poverty and even being pushed into the street?

Just a thought.

 

[bilby]

That's not an innovation of capitalism.

It's an innovation based on the city/state not doing enough to deter blatant retail theft.
Just like locking up oft stolen items behind glass or a cage.

Leave it to Derec to defend this insanity.

If you want to curb shoplifting, how about setting up a social and economic system in which people are fairly paid for their labor and can afford food and housing instead of living in poverty and even being pushed into the street?

Just a thought.

Indeed. And if a person's labour is not needed, pay him anyway.

When automation replaces people's jobs, that should be a good result for everyone. The work is still getting done, so society as a whole should ensure that the benefits are still getting distributed to those who need them.

 

[pood]

That's not an innovation of capitalism.

It's an innovation based on the city/state not doing enough to deter blatant retail theft.
Just like locking up oft stolen items behind glass or a cage.

Leave it to Derec to defend this insanity.

If you want to curb shoplifting, how about setting up a social and economic system in which people are fairly paid for their labor and can afford food and housing instead of living in poverty and even being pushed into the street?

Just a thought.

Indeed. And if a person's labour is not needed, pay him anyway.

When automation replaces people's jobs, that should be a good result for everyone. The work is still getting done, so society as a whole should ensure that the benefits are still getting distributed to those who need them.

Of course. And if they aren’t, nobody will be able to buy the products made by total automation, so the whole system will go to smash.

 

[Arctish]

Why don't those stores have employees at the doors to greet customers, help them find products, and check receipts? Stores like Costco and Sam's Club have them, so it's not like no one has ever tried it.

 

[pood]

Why don't those stores have employees at the doors to greet customers, help them find products, and check receipts? Stores like Costco and Sam's Club have them, so it's not like no one has ever tried it.

Because they want to replace everyone with automation,

And when they do that, no one will be able to afford the products they sell, because they won’t have jobs or income.

Then the stores will go out of business,

Du-oh!

 

[barbos]

Why don't those stores have employees at the doors to greet customers, help them find products, and check receipts? Stores like Costco and Sam's Club have them, so it's not like no one has ever tried it.

Chinese robots will be able to do that pretty soon:

 

[ZiprHead]

Why don't those stores have employees at the doors to greet customers, help them find products, and check receipts? Stores like Costco and Sam's Club have them, so it's not like no one has ever tried it.

Because they want to replace everyone with automation,

And when they do that, no one will be able to afford the products they sell, because they won’t have jobs or income.

Then the stores will go out of business,

Du-oh!

 

[Derec]

Leave it to Derec to defend this insanity.

I wasn't defending it per se.

I was just pointing out that it is not an "innovation of capitalism" per se, but one that is predicated on a system that does not adequately enforce laws against theft.

If you want to curb shoplifting, how about setting up a social and economic system in which people are fairly paid for their labor and can afford food and housing instead of living in poverty and even being pushed into the street?

What would be the fair price for labor be in your opinion?
What percentage of people can't afford food and housing?

In any case, whatever people are paid, there will always be those who want something for nothing, and are thus drawn to thievery.
Even actually existing socialist countries had thieves.

Just a thought.

I have another thought. I wonder how Mamdani's government stores will deal with thieves.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Leave it to Derec to defend this insanity.

I wasn't defending it per se.

I was just pointing out that it is not an "innovation of capitalism" per se, but one that is predicated on a system that does not adequately enforce laws against theft.

But let's look at stats.

Florida has the highest shrinkage rate in the US. Texas us fifth. Illinois, California, and New York fill out the remainder of the top five. Blue state, red state.

 

[Politesse]

Party affiliation has little to do with it. Shoplifting concentrates wherever wealth inequality is extreme, and inflation has thus driven the price of everyday goods up well beyond what folks at the bottom of the pile can afford. The second most frequently stolen grocery product nationwide is baby formula, and there's a thriving black market for the stuff, which parents and smaller retailers alike make use of. Cheese has the top spot, and likewise is often destined for resale to smaller grocers who can't afford wholesale prices.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Oddly enough, I thought this would be about the 50 year mortgage.

 

[ideologyhunter]

Oddly enough, I thought this would be about the 50 year mortgage.

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