Should we be surprised that a socialist isn’t too concerned about private property?
Private property is the cornerstone of any prosperous society.
The fact that you can own something means there are limits to government power, and it allows for the kind of long-term thinking and investment that turns small enterprises into large ones.
Societies that protect private property rights and discourage assaults on private property become higher trust societies, with all the benefits that entails.
By contrast, societies that allow private property rights to be eroded end up becoming low trust societies.
It’s no coincidence that communist states always end up being places where individual freedom disappears and the state is able to commit monstrous crimes against people. If you don’t have the right to your own property, then it’s easy for other rights to be taken away as well.
So, it’s a bit concerning to see socialist NDP leader Jagmeet Singh using far-left populist tactics to try and blame shoplifting on “CEOs”.
Singh’s remarks were made on Twitter, in response to a Globe & Mail article by U.S.-based columnist Gus Carlson.
In the article, Carlson accurately noted that there are significant costs to shoplifting, costs that are borne by consumers:
“Walk into most any drugstore in a U.S. city to buy a tube of toothpaste, a stick of deodorant or a bottle of Aspirin and you may be surprised: They are locked up in cases, like diamond necklaces or Rolex watches, and accessible only by key-bearing employees – if you can find any to help you.
The reason? Theft, often accompanied by violence and aggression in urban locations, has quickly become the biggest plague on U.S. retailers. The National Retail Federation estimates it accounted for US$94.5-billion in losses last year, up sharply from the previous year, and nearly half its members are spending more on loss-prevention technology than ever before.
Big retailers are sounding the alarm, warning that the issue is so acute, they can no longer account for it in the normal cost of doing business, even with heavy spending on anti-theft tech. Consumers, particularly urban ones, will suffer – prices will rise. It’s not just inflation that is making everything more expensive.
The anti-theft measures and the stock on the shelves that get stolen do not come free to the retailer. They pay for it, and more often than not, that cost ends up being passed on to the consumer.
And then it can get even worse. There could be shortages of goods and in many cities, stores will close.
And as long as progressive city and state governments underspend on law enforcement and remain overly lenient on crime, the situation will worsen. The more thieves believe their chances of getting away with a crime with little consequence, the more likely they are to try.”
The cost of this hits low income people the hardest.
In fact, we often see the phenomenon of ‘food deserts’ in poor areas. Due to high crime, poor enforcement of property rights, and the high cost of insurance in dangerous areas, many poor areas are largely devoid of grocery stores and other retail outlets.
Yet, rather than understanding any of the depth and nuance of this issue, the NDP leader went back to his ‘blame the wealthy’ rhetoric:
“The only ones being robbed are consumers.
And the true culprits? Greedy CEOs pocketing record profits off the backs of families.”
The only ones being robbed are consumers.
And the true culprits? Greedy CEOs pocketing record profits off the backs of families. https://t.co/Y1VAFZCk9q
— Jagmeet Singh (@theJagmeetSingh) December 12, 2022
Singh is blaming CEOs for shoplifting, rather than acknowledging any form of individual responsibility.
Further, he ignores the fact that many of the organized shoplifting gangs aren’t poor people at all, but are instead criminals are taking advantage of weak enforcement of property rights.
If Singh really cared about helping low-income Canadians, he wouldn’t have voted against a motion that would have removed the carbon tax from the food production supply-chain.
But for Singh, it’s clearly about dividing Canadians and blaming corporations for inflation, in order to distract from the damage that Liberal-NDP Pact high-spending, high-tax, anti-growth policies have done to this country.
It may not be a surprise to see a socialist leader who has no respect for property rights, but it should be a warning to keep socialist-thinking far removed from the halls of power in our nation.
Spencer Fernando
Photo – Twitter
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