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Comment by t-writescode | Hacker News Reader

So, people are starving and so they’re stealing food - even to organized crime levels of food theft?

There is no connection between "people are starving" and organized gangs stealing $200K of cargo at a pop. The organized gangs aren't Robin Hood. They aren't giving it to hungry people.

Are you missing the global context of how much more expensive food is?

Sure they might not be “giving it to hungry people” that you know; but they themselves might also be hungry, or people they know. We have no idea what they’re doing with the food; and that means both of us don’t know.

At that scale, they’re likely profiteering off a commodity whose value is outpacing the logistics security.

They’re making prices worse for everyone.

Sure, but that’s not my point. My point is that this is a further reflection of the tipping point of food prices that we are experiencing.

Ah yes. I agree. The fact that criminals are stealing food now does indicate it’s becoming more worthwhile to steal. Prices are going up.

i would suggest it's the confluence of a number of changes. Including the higher food prices, we have: better comms like, cell phones, multi-user "database" like google docs, guns almost too cheap to meter and available within a 2-day cross country drive with no waiting period anywhere in the united states, more powerful vehicles for catching up to food trucks, and hauling away with quickness, low-touch mostly anonymous local and national branded markets with advertising and sales like tiktok, insta, craigslist, and ebay, as well as news spreading how other people are getting away with it, and possibly a lack of good information about where to get food from food banks. And if that's not enough, there are lots of recipes being shared. Just kidding about the last part.

Not everyone, not if you have an eye for identifying discount grocery stores with clearly grey market goods!

Fat Tony said it best

https://youtu.be/i6q_2zZXHMg

If you're desperate you steal opportunistically to satisfy your need. People who make a business out of it aren't usually the same kind of people. As different sorts of crime go I don't think this is that bad, but more of the downstream costs fall on poor/working class people because they're low-margin goods to start with.

Do you honestly think these are starving people just trying to get a meal? Honestly?

Although arguably this would be an economic inefficiency and so increases the cost of getting food to those starving people.

> The organized gangs aren't Robin Hood. They aren't giving it to hungry people.

There are many cases where organised gangs are robin hood. Gangs need the local population on their side. They will pay for festivals, art, schools, etc. sometimes.

Sometimes does the heavy lifting. Most of the time, they sell drugs in the community, rob people and businesses in the community, and shoot people in the community who aren't happy with their actions or are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Is that in-between drive-by shootings that kill neighborhood kids? I'm sure the neighborhood easily forgives a murdered 12-year old when they see a block party paid for by the gang members.

Could it be a response to our Government's wage and saving theft that comes from printing money to bail out Silicon Valley Bank and to pay for rich kid's college loans? (I don't think so. Someone just found a risk/reward profile to make money that they're willing to bet on.)

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