RE: Target Is Closing Nine Stores Due To Theft & Organized Retail Crime

Online shopping will continue to grow

I haven't been in a physical store since before COVID. At first I stayed away for health reasons. Now, it's just a bother to go in a store. Online is so convenient. Easy to compare prices and quality. Reviews. For people who like to walk around and browse I guess a store closing is a loss. It certainly seems to be a loss of jobs. But society evolves.

I thought, as I read your blog, of London in the 19th century. Crime was rampant. Whole neighborhoods were off bounds because of the crime (as they are today in many U. S. cities). Punishment was harsh. Hanging (public!) for theft. Debtors prison. Did that lower crime rates? No. The thing that lowered crime rates was an improvement in standard of living. More jobs, better education, a growing middle class that was invested in society. Maybe that's where we should look. Why are people acting without regard for their futures or for the consequence to society? Why are they so disconnected from the mainstream that their values prompt them to crowd together in rampaging theft gangs?

There is no easy answer, but your discussion is thought provoking.