theft, vigilantism and the fetishisation of public humiliation
Posted by TheWorstWitch in Uncategorized, tags: crime, justice, poverty, USA
The vigilantes took photos as they wrestled the thieves to the ground.
On Thursday, a group of five people attempted to make off with a load of watches from a posh London jewellery shop after smashing the window with a sledgehammer. They were foiled not by police, or shop security – but by a mob of more than 50 passers by and shoppers who jumped in and booted fuck out of the would-be thieves.
WHAT. THE. FUCK? What would make so many ordinary people risk the wrath of a sledgehammer to protect a load of watches and jewellery they could never afford, and that belong to a company that’s never done a thing for them?
Society has put a lot of effort into the vilification of the shoplifter and the thief – the government and the media have worked hard to make ordinary people think of theft as a crime on the same level as rape or murder, which it simply isn’t.
Who would have suffered if the sledgehammer gang hadn’t been thwarted? The shop would have had insurance to cover the cost of the products and the broken window.
Defending the property of private companies against people who want access to that property, or the power or opportunities that come with it, is nothing more than a defense of capitalism and inequality.
One new attempt to pit impoverished people against each other, and widen the gulf between so-called good and bad citizens, is a new scheme called Internet Eyes. Ordinary people can volunteer to sit at home monitoring CCTV cameras in shops, and notify the owners if they spot a shoplifter. Their website says:
The sole purpose of Internet Eyes is to enable responsible members of the public to use the latest technology to help shopkeepers and the police combat the serious social harm that shoplifting causes.
The site is aimed at businesses that are too cheap to pay anyone to watch their cameras. Firms pay £20 a week for the service – much cheaper than actually employing a member of staff, and paying the tax, National Insurance and other costs associated with that. The volunteers, each watching up to four screens at a time, have the opportunity to receive a reward of up to £1,000 a month – if they manage to catch anyone.
Volunteers first have to pay a membership fee (£12.99 a year, £4.99 a quarter, or £1.99 a month). You are then rewarded for the hours you put in – if you watch the monitors more than 30 hours per month, you will receive a generous shiny 50 pence piece. More than 45 hours per month gets ￡1, and more than 60 hours per month gets￡1.50. Each volunteer receives feedback points from shop owners according to how much they spot. The volunteer with the most points at the end of each month will receive £1000. If two or more volunteers have the same number of points, the money will be split between them.
So, if you’re poor and can’t find a job, you’ve now got a choice: go out and steal what you need to get by, or sit at home on the internet hoping to catch someone else stealing and get rewarded for dobbing them in.
And what happens when shoplifters do get caught? As we’ve previously reported, shoplifters in the UK are more likely to be jailed than sex offenders.
And in the US, vigilantism against shoplifters is just as strong. Last week, when a costume shop owner in Virginia caught a teenager trying to pinch something, instead of calling the police, he forced the boy to stand outside his shop for the rest of the day, in a Sesame Street costume holding a sign admitting to his crime.
It could mess the rest of his life up – 18 years old, you go to get another job and it shows that you’ve been caught shoplifting. Nobody wants to have someone working for them who has a criminal background.
But public humiliation like this isn’t just limited to vigilantes and psycho capitalists – it’s been fully embraced by the justice system in America. A judge recently sentenced a couple convicted of theft to parade busy city streets with a confession sign for five hours every weekend for the next six years, as well as display a sign in their front garden stating ‘The occupants of this residence are convicted thieves.’ That’s on top of jail time, repayment of what they stole, and 400 hours of community service.
Unfortunately, this isn’t an isolated incident. Shoplifters have to sentenced to stand or walk with confession signs in numerous different states.
One judge stated:
The ridicule basically from the people seeing them, identifying themselves as a thief it does something to them. I don’t know what. I just know it works, and when you have something that works, you want to continue that practice.
So, basically, instead of addressing poverty and the causes of crime, we’re turning more and more towards the use use of vigilantes, public humiliation and attempts to break peoples’ spirits. Aren’t there laws against cruel and unusual punishment?
As socialists, we need to demand social justice instead of revenge and humiliation in defense of private property. If the capitalists didn’t own everything that we need in order to survive, we wouldn’t need to steal in the first place. The only way we’ll have a world free of theft, is if we have a world free of inequality, and a minority who own the majority of the world’s resources.
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News from the sdl
The Glasgow demo will be held next month on the 27th of November. It will be a static demo and the time and location will be given out in the near future.
Paul O’Donnell who was arrested last month at George square and is involved with the BNP and is also a good mate ofJohn Adair is organising this
Be aware the sdl will be trying to pull the wool over our eyes and trying to hold this with the help of the cops and try and catch us out that day
hello Rab,
yep, it’s also worth noting that the 27th is the same day as the STUC St Andrews day anti-racism march. We’re aware of it and will be working with SAFA to counter it (http://scottishantifascist.org.uk/)
but I’m not quite sure what this has to do with the above article – if you wanna get in touch in future our email is scottishsocialisyouth@gmail.com !
cheers
I can see why Scotland has become such a hell hole cesspit that is full of narcissistic welfare junkies who ‘turn a blind eye’ – they see crime as someone else’s problem. Socialists seem to think that crime against private business is justified because people who work hard are greedy. The insurance will pay up, right? I’m well aware that many public sector employees think it’s ok to steal from their employers (tax payers) because they are socialists and communists who have an attitude that all private property is theft, so why not join in.
I applaud the brave mob for detaining the sledge hammer robber. Ideally, the shop owner would have been within his rights to shoot the detained man and his accomplices. This is an example of a community standing up against criminal gangs. We need much more of this. I’m sure a future UKIP government will encourage and facilitate communities taking responsibility for their own security – much like the old Wild West. We can probably get rid of centralised police forces and leave property owners to arrange their own law enforcement at the local or county level. Citizens should play a big part in this process. Ordinary people can help make Scotland the sort of country that we all want to live in by voting for what our American cousins call ‘pro-second amendment candidates’.
Theft (government redistribution of other people’s wealth) is a crime, just like murder and rape. That’s why people in civilised countries like the US are justified in shooting those caught burgling their homes.
Is that actually a comment from UKIPKRIS or a very skilled parody?
“much like the old Wild West”
IDEAL SOCIETY, I KNOW THIS FROM MY LEARNINGS
it carries the genuine kris seunarine seal!
I got a letter from Kris Seunarine….he’s alive – but he’s in the old west! – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQXOx2lYnA4
Its seems somewhat unusal when those who commit robbery are lauded and those who are robbed and, those who try to stop robbery are in some way at fault.
It’s hardly lauding people to say there are reasons why people steal things, perhaps not unrelated to the new Great Depression and enforced austerity shitness of capitalism that’s been going on. Quasi medieval punishments and encouraging voyeuristic internet vigilantes is hardly going to help with that.
Nicking things is better than paying for them. End of. LOL.
Also, Kris; why on earth do you still read our blog?
“Who would have suffered if the sledgehammer gang hadn’t been thwarted? The shop would have had insurance to cover the cost of the products and the broken window.”
Everyone who pays insurance premiums, for one. Everyone who buys goods from people who pay insurance premiums. The rest of society, as crime is shown to breed more crime. Theft from Selfridges or Harrods is no different to theft from friendly Mr Patel who sells me my newspaper each morning.
Time you grew up, got a job and started getting some real responsibility. This isn’t a Marxist seminar at the University of Glasgow, this is real life. Get a grip.
“Theft from Selfridges or Harrods is no different to theft from friendly Mr Patel who sells me my newspaper each morning.”
Yes it is, it’s entirely and completely different. You are not morally superior because you defend big business’s gargantuan profits.
Also, I for one have never known Glasgow Uni to give a ‘Marxist seminar’, but it’s kind of you to assume that the author of this article has no job and goes to university – you’re wrong on both counts, and you’re the one not living in real life if you can’t see how wrong the disparity between the excesses of the lives of people who own huge businesses and the desperate and impoverished (both economically and socially) lives of all the women in Cornton Vale who’re in prison for having very limited options beyond shoplifting is.