well the businesses are locking up everything from toothpaste to nail polish, so you have to ask staff to get it for you.

liberals say if we had a living wage then there wouldn't be crime.

conservatives think stricter punishment. (but again, this is expensive "big government")

libertarians think the stores should be able to shoot the thieves.

Lack of consequence isn't too bad. stores just raise their prices a bit to compensate. There may be slightly more incentive for the criminals to keep doing what they're doing, but I don't think it incentivizes non-criminals to start stealing.

but here's a suggestion: allow stores to capture the thief, then force them to watch political debates for 8 hours, then let them go.