Rampant Looting in Philadelphia

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Scenes of rampant looting in the heart of downtown Philadelphia have Elon Musk fearful that America’s social fabric is being destroyed in an orgy of unfettered lawlessness.

At least 20 people were arrested after dozens ransacked stores belonging to Apple, Lululemon, and Foot Locker . Footage captured by onlookers and posted to social media showed police officers overwhelmed by thieves pouring out of stores and fleeing with stolen goods in hand.

The incident highlights the dilemma brick-and-mortar retailers face as they come to grips with an epidemic of organized shoplifting. Nowadays even baby formula can be found locked behind anti-theft plexiglass.

“America is going full Joker,” Musk posted to his social media platform X.

The 2019 film he referenced stars Joaquin Phoenix in an Oscar-winning turn as the titular antihero whose actions inadvertently spark a riot in the city of Gotham, a tinderbox of violent crime just waiting to go off.

Perhaps more than any fictional work of late, its portrayal of society coming apart at the seams has come to symbolize the "late stage civilization vibes" that Musk claims to feel of late when witnessing scenes of rampant theft.

Despite a resilient economy and robust job market, more and more Americans fear the country has reached its cultural peak and now faces the same fate as the Roman Empire.There may even be an unhealthy obessession  about Rome, with the subject garnering over 1 billion views on TikTok.

Musk wasn’t alone in his bleak reaction to Tuesday’s news even if others viewed the income inequality that centibillionaires such as himself helped create as part of—if not the root of—the problem.

“Welcome to late-stage capitalism,” hacker group Anonymous posted from its official account on Tuesday.

The ugly scenes coming out of Philadelphia are symptomatic of a broader trend. Retail theft is a $112-billion-a-year problem, according to a 2023 retail security survey by the National Retail Federation published earlier on Tuesday.

“Retailers are seeing unprecedented levels of theft coupled with rampant crime in their stores, and the situation is only becoming more dire,” warned senior NRF official David Johnston in an accompanying statement. 

Walmart CEO Doug McMillon has argued these added costs arising from looting, shoplifting, and organized theft either have to be passed on to the customer or result in some stores simply shutting down.

Rival retailer Target is one of those. On Tuesday it said it would close nine stores across four states after efforts to clamp down on theft proved insufficient.

“We invested heavily in strategies to prevent and stop theft and organized retail crime in our stores, such as adding more security team members, using third-party guard services, and implementing theft-deterrent tools across our business,” it said. “Despite our efforts, unfortunately we continue to face fundamental challenges to operating these stores safely and successfully.”

Another chain facing this very real possibility, according to the Wall Street Journal, is Rite Aid, coincidentally headquartered in Philadelphia. The third largest drugstore provider has incurred a heavy burden from shoplifting and organized retail theft in urban areas in recent months.

“We’re looking at literally putting everything behind showcases to ensure the products are there for customers who want to buy it,” Andre Persaud, its chief retail officer, told investors last September.  

Interestingly, the majority of the most-wanted fugitives in Europe are women. Europe's crime agency Europol has revealed a list of 21 criminals who are on the run from the authorities. Eighteen of these are women. The wanted suspects have been accused of a range of charges including murder, human and drug trafficking and robbery. The most-wanted list was released as part of Europol's "Crime has no gender" campaign. A spokeswoman said: "People think that usually these crimes are not being committed by women, but they are, and they are equally as serious as those committed by men." However, a crime expert told the BBC that: "Some women do commit serious crimes. They do so far less frequently than men."

The Europol campaign hopes to raise awareness, "that women are just as likely to commit violent crimes as men." A spokeswoman said: "Even though the discourse is often around male fugitives, women can be just as bad." The campaign's website asks visitors the question: "Are women equally as capable of committing serious crimes as men?" It then answers that very question by stating: "The female fugitives featured on Europe's Most Wanted website prove that they are capable. The criminals - of both genders - in this new campaign by EU law enforcement are all wanted for grave offenses like murder, drug trafficking, fraud, theft and trafficking in human beings."

3. WORLD POLICE: Students A strongly believe a world police force should tackle crime in every country; Students B strongly believe this would not work.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.
4. OFFENSES: How bad are these offenses? What should the punishment be for people found guilty of them? Complete this table.

	How Bad	Punishment
Pickpocketing
Fraud
Identity theft
Drug trafficking
Burglary
Human trafficking

6. CRIMES: Rank these with your partner. Put the worst crimes at the top. Change partners often and share your rankings.

• Shoplifting
• Pickpocketing
• Speeding
• Assault
• Possession of cannabis
• Vandalism
• Hate speech
• Train fare evasion

 

Vocabulary

        Paragraph 1

1.	rampant	a.	give too much of something to; inundate OR overpowered
2.	looting	b.	something unwelcomed that is spreading uncontrollably
3.	social fabric	c.	go through a place stealing things and causing damage.
4.	overwhelmed	d.	a non-participating observer
5.	unfettered	e.	without control
6.	ransacked	f.	steal goods from a place, typically during a war or riot.
7.	onlookers	g.	It is a metaphor for how well community members interact with one another

    Paragraph 2

8.		h.	Either of the two sexes (male and female) or other category.
9.	fleeing	i.	Having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing.
10.	brick and mortar	j.	Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
11.	titular	k.	Knowledge or perception of a situation or fact.
12.	antihero	l.	Written or spoken communication or debate.
13.	inadvertently	m.	The action or crime of stealing.
14.	tinderbox	n.	Giving cause for alarm; serious.

Paragraph 3

15.	coming apart at the seams	a.	Do, carry out or perpetrate a mistake, crime, sin or immoral act.
16.	rampant	b.	A person who has escaped from a place or is in hiding, especially to avoid arrest.
17.	robust	c.	Charged someone with an offense or crime.
18.	garnering	d.	The greater number of; the most of.
19.	bleak	e.	A person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.
20.	symptomatic	f.	Made previously unknown or secret information known to others.
21.	unprecedented	g.	Deal or trade in something illegal (like people, drugs, ivory, etc.).

    Paragraph 4

22.	dire	h.	Either of the two sexes (male and female) or other category.
23.	clamp down	i.	Having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing.
24.	incurred	j.	Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.

 Paragraph 5

1.	majority	a.	Do, carry out or perpetrate a mistake, crime, sin or immoral act.
2.	fugitive	b.	A person who has escaped from a place or is in hiding, especially to avoid arrest.
3.	revealed	c.	Charged someone with an offense or crime.
4.	accused	d.	The greater number of; the most of.
5.	trafficking	e.	A person who has a comprehensive and authoritative knowledge of or skill in a particular area.
6.	commit	f.	Made previously unknown or secret information known to others.
7.	expert	g.	Deal or trade in something illegal (like people, drugs, ivory, etc.).

    Paragraph 6

8.	awareness	h.	Either of the two sexes (male and female) or other category.
9.	discourse	i.	Having the ability, fitness, or quality necessary to do or achieve a specified thing.
10.	capable	j.	Wrongful or criminal deception intended to result in financial or personal gain.
11.	gender	k.	Knowledge or perception of a situation or fact.
12.	grave	l.	Written or spoken communication or debate.
13.	fraud	m.	The action or crime of stealing.
14.	theft	n.	Giving cause for alarm; serious.

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1. majority
2. revealed
3. range
4. committed
5. expert
6. awareness
7. fugitives
8. prove
9. genders
10. fraud

1. assortment
2. embezzlement
3. consciousness
4. disclosed
5. sexes
6. demonstrate
7. lion's share
8. carried out
9. escapees
10. specialist

Role play

Role  A – Shoplifting You think shoplifting is the worst crime. Tell the others three reasons why.  What would lead someone to do such a thing ? What is the appropriate punishment for such a crime ?

Role  B – Pickpocketing You think pickpocketing is the worst crime.  Tell the others three reasons why.   What would lead someone to do such a thing ? What is the appropriate punishment for such a crime ?

Role  C – Speeding You think speeding is the worst crime.  Tell the others three reasons why.  What would lead someone to do such a thing ? What is the appropriate punishment for such a crime ?

Role  D – Vandalism You think vandalism is the worst crime.  Tell the others three reasons why.  What would lead someone to do such a thing ? What is the appropriate punishment for such a crime ? OR Assault Possession of cannabis Hate speech Train fare evasion

Discussion - Criminals 

1. Why do you think the majority of the most-wanted are women?
2. What would it be like to be on the run?
3. What more can the police do to catch the suspects?
4. What is crime like in your country?
5. Do men and women commit different crimes in your country?
6. Do you think 'crime has no gender'?
7. What do you think of Europol and Interpol?
8. Why do people commit crimes?

11. Have you ever committed a crime?
12. Why are most criminals thought of as being men?
13. Are women equally as capable of committing serious crimes as men?
14. What would you do if you saw someone on the most-wanted list?
15. What do you think of criminals?
16. How can we reduce crime?
17. What questions would you like to ask Europol?

The List of Different Crimes. Match the crime with its correct definition 1-7, 8-14, 15-21,22-29,30-37,38-44,45-50

CRIME	DEFINITION	CRIMINAL
1.abduction	taking someone away by force, demanding money for their safe return
2.arson	attacking someone physically
3.assassination	setting fire to a building, cars or property on purpose
4.assault	killing a famous person or public figure
5.bigamy	detonating an explosive device with the plan of harming people or property
6.blackmail	marrying someone when you are already married to another person
7.bombing	threatening to reveal someone’s secrets if a lot of money is not paid
8.bribery	behaving violently inside the home
9.burglary	doing something illegal over the Internet or a computer system
10.child abuse	behaving illegally and dishonestly; especially those in power
11.corruption	treating a child badly in a physical, emotional, or sexual way
12.crime	doing something illegal that can be punished by law
13.cybercrime	breaking into a house in order to steal something
14.domestic violence	giving money or granting favors to influence another person’s decisions or behavior
15.drunk driving	driving with too much alcohol in your blood
16.embezzlement	stealing large amounts of money that you are responsible for, often over a period of time
17.espionage	illegally copying documents, money, etc. to cheat people
18.forgery	spying, to obtain political or military information
19.fraud	killing on purpose a large number of people, especially from a particular group or area
20.genocide	getting money from people by cheating them
21.hijacking	taking control of a plane, train etc by force, often to meet political demands
22.hit and run	killing someone without legal process, often by hanging, often by an angry mob
23.homicide	damaging someone’s reputation by writing lies about them
24.hooliganism	being violent or aggressive on purpose; often used to describe youth
25.identity theft	using someone else’s personal information for one’s own gain
26.kidnapping	taking things illegally and by force, during a riot, war, etc.
27.libel	killing another person on purpose
28.looting	taking someone away by force, often demanding money for their safe return
29.lynching	not stopping to help a person hurt in an accident caused by you
30.manslaughter	killing someone by accident
31.mugging	lying in court, while under oath
32.murder	killing someone on purpose
33.perjury	attacking someone with a plan to rob them
34.pickpocketing	hunting illegally
35.pilfering	stealing small quantities of goods over time
36.poaching	hunting illegally
37.rape	forcing someone to have sex
38.riot	causing a noisy, violent public disturbance
39.robbery	stealing large amounts of money with force or violence from a bank, store, etc.
40.shoplifting	stealing something from a store
41.slander	damaging someone’s reputation by speaking lies about them
42.smuggling	taking things secretly in or out of a place, country, jail, etc.
43.speeding	driving above the speed limit
44.terrorism	betraying one’s country by helping its enemies
45.theft	stealing, in general
46.trafficking	trading something illegal like drugs, people, etc.
47.treason	using violence, threats, or fear, usually for political purposes
48.trespassing	entering another person’s area; hurting people/damaging property through force
49.vandalism	destroying private or public property purposely
50.voyeurism	secretly watching naked people or sexual acts & getting sexually excited

Spelling

Paragraph 1

1. The imtryaoj of
2. rveeelad a list of 21 criminals
3. on the run from the suthretiaio
4. drug ifitarnfkgc and robbery
5. a crime pxerte
6. they do so far less fqyelnuret

Paragraph 2

7. hopes to raise nerwaeass
8. male gifvtiues
9. capable of iocnigtmtm serious crimes
10. ropve that they are
11. by EU law monnfeetcre
12. grave efoesnsf like murder