This defense of shoplifting sucks. Crime lowers social trust, and lowering social trust lowers economic growth. The perception of crime also causes voters to vote for right-wing parties. If you want voters to support redistribution, welfare programs, public services, and other forms of solidaristic collective action, then you need people to have trust in one another, and in the institutions that administer those programs.

The whole “the world is unjust, so I have the right to do whatever I want” line of argument is really tedious. Of course wage theft by corporations is bad—but shoplifting doesn’t do anything to stop it! Selfish, antisocial behavior only makes the world even more unjust.

nytimes.com/2026/04/22/…