American businesses are being destroyed by theft. It is a product of the destruction of the American character by the apostasy of churches and the proliferation of humanism, and it is the product of foolish laws that coddle lawbreakers. The National Retail Federation estimates that businesses lost nearly $95 billion in 2021 due to theft, up from $91 billion in 2020. Walmart alone loses $3 billion annually by theft. Organized crime theft rose 26% (“Major retail brands threaten to close stores,” Fox KTVU television, Dec. 8, 2022). The national retail chain Target lost $400 million in just three months last year. California’s crazy laws allow individuals to steal up to $950 worth of goods and, if caught and charged, which is rare, they are only charged with a simple misdemeanor. Thieves can go from store to store and steal $949 in merchandise at ten places, totaling $9,490 worth of goods, but it’s still a misdemeanor. So gangs of thieves enter stores, each individual stealing $949 worth of goods, and they walk out of the store as if nothing happened. (In March, California authorities arrested and charged nine people with stealing $135,000 worth of merchandise, but this is a drop in the bucket.) The security office of a San Francisco Target store said, “There’s no consequences. Literally zero consequences. I’ve been here since 9 AM today. I probably have already kicked out eight or nine people and I’ve recovered a thousand dollars’ worth of stuff alone off of that. Whether we kick them out, tell them they can’t come back, whether I put them in handcuffs and take them down to the county jail—there is no difference. Because they will not be prosecuted by the district attorney. There is zero consequence. And that’s why in the city the same couple percent of people are committing all the car break-ins, all the robberies and all the shootings, any aggravated assaults right in town. It’s all the same exact people, and there are zero consequences. Therefore, you take them to jail, they get out of jail. They do it again. It’s a big circle” (“Iconic Target Store to Close,” California Globe, Oct. 21, 2021). This same lawlessness is perpetrated in many other parts of the nation because the laws aren’t being enforced. As a result, large stores and smaller retailers are closing their doors every day. Walgreens is closing 22 stores in San Francisco. Target and Walmart are closing stores. An “iconic” Target store on Mission Street closed after losing $25,000 DAILY to shoplifting. Neighborhoods are being left without convenient shopping.
(Friday Church News Notes, February 17, 2023, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
