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Whoa! Shoplifting is legal in America? The things I learn about my own country...!

In all seriousness, is that a commonly held belief? Or, what's up with that?

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In Southern California, where petty theft is especially high, shoplifting is classified as a misdemeanor under $950. As there are more serious crimes to deal with and not enough cops to respond to calls in the first place, most people walk away with just a slap on the wrist (if they get caught at all.) People make thousands a month doing this over and over; it's why so many businesses have left places like San Francisco. I'm guessing one of the stories about this phenomena got translated over and it became all of America instead of just a specific region with very unique circumstances.

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Ohhhh that makes sense. I knew that was a thing over there, I just forgot.

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fwiw I'd be interested in having the Chinese language version of these tweets, might be useful to brush up on my Mandarin

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