Culture writer Maura Judkis explores the complicated problem of stealing in America in an insightful article for the Washington Post. She frames the topic within the backdrop of the country’s historical background and present socioeconomic issues. In the piece “The zombie CVS, a late-capitalism horror story,” the closing of a CVS in Columbia Heights, D.C., which had been routinely broken into and looted to the extent that shelves were empty save for a few things kept behind plexiglass, is discussed.
According to Judkis, the outrage about larceny in American cities has intensified into a “moral panic,” partly due to conservative narratives that portray American cities as havens of anarchy and crime. She contends that this fear ignores the more fundamental, systemic problems at hand, such as changes in enforcement techniques, economic hardship, and business strategies that can unintentionally encourage stealing.
The reporter implies a historical precedent for taking what is not one’s own by arguing that America’s present obsession with shoplifting ignores the country’s founding history of colonialism and theft of indigenous lands. Judkis notes that the statistics on shoplifting is unclear, with larceny rates changing by city and sometimes obscured by contradicting claims from companies and government organizations, notwithstanding the contentious nature of the subject.
Judkis identifies a number of variables, such as inflation, the pandemic’s aftereffects, and economic desperation, that are causing shoplifting to increase. She also mentions that the issue is being exacerbated by modifications to CVS’s security procedures, which tell guards not to pursue shoplifters.
Judkis maintains that the narrative surrounding the Columbia Heights CVS and similar incidents has been co-opted by culture wars, with some conservatives using it to depict urban areas as overrun by crime, despite acknowledging the real impact of theft on businesses and communities, as noted by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. She disputes this image, citing successful companies near to the shuttered CVS and arguing that certain trade associations have inflated the extent of stealing.
In order to address the underlying causes of the problem, the article’s conclusion urges readers to look beyond simple narratives and evaluate the shoplifting phenomenon in the larger context of America’s complicated social and economic environment.