Sure, negative societal costs are true of embezzlement, stock fraud, and wage theft as well. I wouldn't describe those crimes as violent either, unless by chance a separate act of violence was perpetrated in their commission. And, even though they are generally on an orders-of-magnitude higher cost scale than garden variety shoplifting, we don't normally describe embezzlers and other white collar criminals using dog whistle words like "thugs" either.
> I wouldn't describe those crimes as violent either, unless by chance a separate act of violence was perpetrated in their commission.
Or if they plan to use violence if needed. Watch the videos of them beating guards and other shoppers. It doesn't matter that they don't use violence every time because they're ready whenever they want.
If that white-collar criminal had a gun, "just in case", then we would call them a violent criminal.
> dog whistle words like "thugs" either.
Does that "I'm taking offense over here" strategy do anything for you? It just tells me you try to see everything through a race-based lens.
