Occasionally, something will happen that shows a latent tendency of dishonesty in people regardless of class or station. Once the lights go off or security is suspended, there is an explosion of thefts or some riot. I remember one Christmas seeing what looked like lawyers or businessmen trying to use umbrellas to unhook fur decorations on the Christmas tree in the Daley Plaza that were part of a Canadian holiday display. One was actually on the other one’s shoulders. I am not sure why I am always surprised. However, this weekend, the food stamp computer system in Louisiana experienced a glitch where it would not show the limit on cards. Most stores stopped purchases with the EBT cards. However, Walmart stores in Springhill and Mansfield, Louisiana decided to continue to make sales. The word quickly spread and the stores were mobbed with shoppers who took virtually every item off the shelves. Then the EBT cards came back online with the limits on the cards . . .
Suddenly, hundreds of people fled the store after it was announced that the card were showing the limits again. Dozens of over-stuffed carts were left in lines and all of the shelves were stripped clean. Given the low level of food support on such cards, it raises a moral dilemma in the interpretation of laws on theft. Should such laws include a Jean Val Jean exception in the prosecution of people overcharging food stamp cards? Are such act justified on a relative scale given poverty issues? After posting this blog early this morning, many have insisted that it is and even objected to taking note of the story. Yet it raises an interesting question of the relativity of crime. ABC News reported the story as a “shopping spree” as opposed to theft.
Police were called before the system came back on line because people were fighting to get their hands on any item.
One woman was detained because she rang up a bill of $700.00 and only had .49 on her card when the system came back. However, she was released when Walmart decided not to prosecute. Walmart said it did not want to prosecute anyone.
What is left is another breakdown of basic notions of honesty and responsibility. It is particularly disturbing to hear of children being enlisted to strip the shelves and then fleeing with their parents when the system came back online. I do feel there is the mitigating circumstance due to the fact that these are poor individuals and the level of support is low. I am less troubled by such scenes as I am more affluent forms of theft like banking fraud and government perjury that goes unpunished. However, this still constitutes a form of theft.
What is interesting about the single woman being detained is that she committed theft. Those in line had not committed any crime if they abandoned their carts before using their cards. She was not prosecuted. Many others succeeded in the effort to circumvent limits.
There is also the question of liability. Xerox is being blamed for the glitch in 14 states. Yet, Walmart made the decision to honor cards without limits. That would seem a superseding intervening act.
We have had a number of people say that such actions are justified due to the poverty of the individuals. What do you think?
Source: KSLA
Jamie,
That’s what’s going on in the reform of public worker pensions. Cut benefits and privatize the retirement funds so Wall Street hedge fund managers and other Wall Street banksters can make millions/billions in fees and profits.
Thanks Elaine M. Good stuff. Taibbi is one of the best. Bankster crime pays, and it pays quite well. Billion$ bankster crimes are embarrassments, but when the poor grab an extra loaf of bread using a SNAP card, they are considered the lowest forms of life. Feed the rich and starve the poor seems to be the new mantra of many in the business and political classes.
(Our) Jamie Dimon is causing me some dissonance. I’m so accustomed to hearing outrageous bullshit when the real Jaime Dimon speaks, I’m taken aback when our Jamie Dimon says something not only reasonable but true and just as well. It’s like falling off a ladder and landing in a big ol’ pile of Christmas.
@davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct you are! I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD doesn’t garner good vibes 🙂
@ davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct you are! I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD does’t garner any good vibes 🙂
Jamie,
Watch this video to get an idea of how some media figures make excuses for JP Morgan and banksters like the real “Jamie Dimon.”
Matt Taibbi gives his play by play commentary of CNBC’s demented interview with Alex Pareene and why anybody could do Jamie Dimon’s job…
Matt Taibbi, Sam Seder on Alex Pareene Popping CNBC’s Bubble
@ davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct you are! I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD does’t garner any good vibes 🙂
@davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct. I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD does’t garner any good vibes 🙂
davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct. I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD does’t garner any good vibes 🙂
Thank you, Elaine M!
davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct. I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD does’t garner any good vibes 🙂
Jamie Dimon,
Well said!
davidbluefish
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
Reply:
Correct. I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster. I may have to change my moniker so the real JD does’t garner any good vibes 🙂
@davidm2575
Jamie Dimon wrote: “The poor aren’t to blame for America’s dwindling honesty problem. It starts at the top and when the little people see that stealing is rewarded, they are bound to follow the lead.”
You make a good point, that people learn dishonesty from those who lead them in society. But if a poor person is dishonest, we should hold them in the same contempt as we do a rich person.
Reply:
Contempt is a bit strong for this non-crime. Contempt should be used for powerful and mega-wealthy men (usually) stealing from a nation that is becoming increasingly poor and fearful. I don’t admire those who may have overbooked the SNAP card, but that isn’t nearly comparable to white collar bankster criminal actions. Drug money laundering for murderous drug cartels at HSBC received little condemnation from media and no individual criminal charges, but this petty act received the condemnation of the media types and the holier-than-thou crowd and the near arrest of someone purposely exceeding SNAP limits by a few hundred dollars….. When the powerful and connected are held to the same standards of justice as the poor, then I might measure this event with a similar sense of contempt.
davidbluefish
October 15, 2013 at 10:20 am
When the rich do this they get bonuses!!
PS. @JamieDimon, I’m starting to think you aren’t “the” JP Morgan jamie dimon. 😮 )
I am the antithesis of Jamie Dimon Bankster 🙂
Blouise, You believe there’s only 1% fraud in SNAP? What’s the tooth fairy leaving now days. I have a crown, that has had a root canal, but the doc screwed it up and now needs another. If the tooth fairy is giving good cash, I might just have the sucker yanked.
pdm,
It’s called the dog whistle strategy. nick heard it. 😉
On the other hand (as an example only):
“lottakatz, thank you for the heads up, I went back and watched both videos. The words used to describe the situation are much more inflammatory than the video shows.” (davidbluefish)
Lots of posters didn’t which is encouraging.
You just can’t beat a wonderful ironic piece of writing. Thanks for posting, Elaine.
LET THEM EAT STOCK
Walmart Wages Are No Problem, Says CEO of Walmart
by Kris E. Benson
December 13, 2012
http://wonkette.com/492744/walmart-wages-are-no-problem-says-ceo-of-walmart
You liberals, getting all excited about Walmart workers and their low wages. How typical.
It’s cool though, the Walmart CEO is here to helpfully explain to all of us why these low wages are really not a problem, nope, not a problem at all. In fact, he thinks that Walmart employees are “inspirational” because of what they do. I mean, THEY should be paying HIM to go to work because working at Walmart is like attending a leadership seminar, but with discount cards.
“Last night, Bloomberg LP President Dan Doctoroff asked Walmart CEO Mike Duke about how he paid employees. […] Duke responded that he pays his 2.2 million employees competitive wages. The average full-time, hourly U.S. associate makes $12.57 an hour, according to Walmart.”
See? There you have it. Walmart pays competitive wages, says Walmart. Case closed. End of story. So don’t worry about that scholarly study [PDF] stating that Walmart workers make 28% less than workers at other retailers; reality has a liberal bias, everyone knows that. Also too, it’s not like Walmart is raking in the dough, OK? Retail is a “lower margin industry,” apparently. See?
“Duke said that retail is a lower-margin industry in general, and that Walmart’s wages are competitive.
“’Retailing is the most competitive industry out there, and we do pay competitive wages,’ Duke said. ‘Last year we promoted 165,000 people from entry-level to managerial positions.’”
It’s SO low margin that everyone really had to sacrifice so that the CEO could get his $18.7 million dollar salary last year, and also for that $5 million they spent on lobbying, and also for the $61 billion they paid shareholders over the past five years. It’s lower margin, they would LOVE to pay a fair wage, but they just can’t, you understand.
I want to make a correction. This post is not political. Maybe just posted in haste and without too much thought.