Chapter 2055

"Zero dollar purchase" began in the United States in November 2021. It was the shopping carnival "Black Friday", and various stores were offering discounts and promotions. Suddenly, there was a phenomenon of only grabbing but not buying. At that time, many luxury stores in various states of the United States were attacked by masked robbers. Some people even smashed the glass of the store with crowbars and entered the store, looting the shelves, causing many stores to suffer huge losses. However, despite repeated investigations by the police, they failed to catch these participants, and the case could not be solved.

This was in Kai's original world.

In this world, it was even earlier.

It was there in 2008. There was no way. The United States in this world was more prosperous than the United States before Kai traveled through time, and the gap in peace was even greater, and the public security was worse! The problems of the United States before the previous life traveled through time, the United States in this world did not pull out one by one, and it was also very innovative.

After all, this world has supernatural powers.

So some things are more serious.

So it's not surprising that zero dollar purchases appear... After all, the underlying logic has not changed!

To understand the origin of zero dollar purchases, we must first understand the prison industry in the United States. The United States is a capitalist society, and everything is driven by profit. Prisons are no exception. In the United States, prisons are a for-profit capitalist enterprise that obtains huge income from society by imprisoning criminals. The prison industry in the United States reached its peak in the late 20th century and early 21st century. The U.S. population was only 300 million, but more than 2 million people were imprisoned, which is more than the number of prisoners currently serving sentences in China, which has a population of 1.4 billion.

The prison industry in the United States consumes tens of billions of dollars of public funds every year and has become an important part of the U.S. GDP.

However, the prosperity of this prison industry is based on the prosperity of the U.S. economy. When the U.S. economy encountered a crisis and financial difficulties, the cost of the prison industry became unbearable. Prison costs in the United States are very high. It costs more than $75,000 to hold a prisoner each year, and it costs $300 a day. All this money is paid by taxpayers. Moreover, prisons in the United States have not effectively reformed criminals, but have become a hotbed of crime, leading to high recidivism rates and social unrest. Therefore, U.S. states are eager to reduce prison costs, reduce the number of prisoners, and alleviate prison overcrowding. They passed a series of laws and policies to reduce some minor crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, or directly not prosecute and sentence them, so that these criminals can serve their sentences in the community or be released directly. When the prison gates opened, some criminals found a new opportunity: zero-dollar shopping. They found that as long as they did not rob goods worth more than $950, they would not be sent to prison. Moreover, if they could gather a large group of people and rush into the store together to rob goods, they would be less likely to be caught by the police.

In this way, they can get what they want for free without worrying about any consequences. This is the temptation of zero-dollar shopping. Some criminals who buy zero-dollar goods do so for survival, some for pleasure, some to vent, and some to protest. Some of them are unemployed vagrants, some are low-income people, some are marginalized people in society, and some are organized criminal groups. They use tools such as social media to connect, incite, and organize each other, forming a powerful destructive force.

Faced with such rampant robbers, are there no store clerks to scold and stop them? Yes, it is true that few store clerks stood up to stop it, even security guards did the same, and some even just took pictures quietly and posted to their friends circle calmly.

Is it the indifference of people or the decline of morality?

In fact, neither is true, because the store clerks and security guards dare not.

In China, as long as it is a robbery, even if only one dollar is robbed, it constitutes robbery and is subject to sentencing, but US law stipulates that robbery below a certain amount is not a crime.

For example, California, USA. In 2014, California passed the famous Bill 47, which downgraded some felonies to misdemeanors. This includes the crime of stealing property below $950 from a felony to a misdemeanor. Although there is only a one-word difference between a misdemeanor and a felony, the results are very different. Misdemeanors are sentenced to less than 1 year, while felonies are generally sentenced to between 3 and 10 years. In 2021, California passed another bill, which stipulates that the use of force or intimidation to rob property from others, and the amount does not exceed $950, can be considered petty theft without using deadly weapons and causing serious bodily harm to others. According to these bills, whether it is stealing or robbing, as long as the amount does not exceed $950, it is only a misdemeanor, with a sentence of no more than one year, or a direct payment of a $1,000 fine, or both. In other words, if someone robs $950, if he is not caught and is safe, even if he is caught, the conviction process is more complicated. In the end, even if he is convicted, he will only be fined $1,000, then the cost of this crime is too low. In addition, the US court encourages prisoners to sign a plea agreement before the trial, and the result is probably similar to "surrendering", which probably means that the sentence can be lighter. In places like American supermarkets, $950 can buy, oh, no, you can rob a lot of things, so the cost of "zero-dollar purchase" is very low.

But there are more than one legal loophole in the United States. In the United States, there is also a rule that if the robber does not step out of the door, it is not considered a robbery. In a sense, as long as the robber does not step out of the door, the clerk has no way to confirm whether the robber will pay. Maybe people just like to use sacks to shop? Maybe people just like to be rude when packing things?

But if the clerk comes forward to dissuade him during this process, the robber can sue the clerk for defamation. "I haven't left the store yet, why do you think I won't pay?" "Are you discriminating against me? Do you look down on me for not having money?"

First of all, if the clerk and security guard come forward to stop it, it is easy to have a physical conflict, and the robber is likely to be injured, and then he will be bitten back, and even the robber can directly sue them for personal injury, and the clerk and security personnel will pay a huge amount of compensation for this. This is the law in the United States, and it has to be said that this is somewhat similar to some aspects of China. For example, there is a famous "711 convenience store" case: in the United States, a thug made two consecutive zero-dollar purchases at a 711 convenience store. He was resisted by two store clerks. When trying to stop the thugs from robbing, the store clerks beat the thugs. As a result, the American police went to hold the store clerks responsible.

Secondly, if the store clerks or security guards were injured when they went up to stop the "zero-dollar purchases", the store owner must also compensate them. Therefore, for the boss, if you let your store clerks stop the "zero-dollar purchases", you may have to pay extra medical expenses and mental damages for no reason. Therefore, the boss can do nothing about the store clerks and security guards watching.

For the boss, indifference may be the smallest loss. However, the boss is not completely powerless. They will buy insurance! Yes, in the United States, bosses will buy insurance for their stores. After all, the number of "zero-dollar purchases" is too many. They bought insurance, and if there is a loss, the insurance company will pay! So, if you are the boss, what would you choose?

Since there are so many people who participate in "zero-dollar shopping" in the United States, and they usually do it in groups, it will be very time-consuming for the police to handle the case and catch people. Even if they spend a lot of time to catch them, the legal punishment is very light. In addition, American prisons are overcrowded. The government has to support and spend money on each prisoner who goes in. In recent years, the global economy has been sluggish and the government has little money. Even if they are really caught, with such a low cost of crime, they will continue to shop for zero dollars after they come out. They are caught and released, and the American police are tired. Therefore, when dealing with the "zero-dollar shopping" players who are caught, the law enforcement department also follows the principle of not going to jail if possible, and turns a blind eye. Therefore, the American police are less and less concerned about the criminal behavior of "zero-dollar shopping", which indirectly leads to the proliferation of zero-dollar shopping. Even some habitual offenders are known by store staff. When they shop for zero dollars, they are calm and composed like old customers, because they all know that there is no great significance in calling the police. At first, the "zero-dollar purchase" contestants put on stockings or masks on their heads. Over time, they were too lazy to cover their faces, and even smiled when they saw the camera.

Of course, the reasons for the rampant "zero-dollar purchase" today are far more than the above. There are many other reasons. For example, the global economic downturn has caused layoffs in various American companies, but Americans' consumption habits are to live in the present, with very little savings. If they are unemployed for a period of time and do not find a job again, their houses and cars will be taken away by the bank, and they will directly become poor. The number of poor people is increasing, and they also have to live. In order to survive, more and more people will choose to take risks. For example, the party disputes in the United States, because these low-level people also have the right to vote, which party is more relaxed about this matter, then they will vote for that party, so the American parties turn a blind eye to this kind of thing in order to canvass votes.

For example, although white people and other races are now also participating in "zero-dollar purchases", the original "zero-dollar purchase" initiators and most of the "zero-dollar purchase" contestants today are black. If the police arrest them or have conflicts with them, they will easily be labeled as racists, so the government is not willing to let the police control them too strictly. If the ruling party is labeled as racist, votes will be lost.

For example, the US government is also more philosophical. They know that these "zero-dollar purchase" players are all from the bottom of society, most of whom have a hard time surviving, and usually rob food and drink, and the total amount is not large. If there is no place for them to rob, no place for them to vent, and even the way for "zero-dollar purchase" to eat is cut off. Then won't this group of people turn their spearheads to the government? Won't it cause a bigger problem? So, just sacrifice the interests of some people and preserve the overall situation.

So in summary, this is the main reason why zero-dollar purchases are so common in the United States. Even some large retail companies in the United States will specifically list a zero-dollar purchase loss in their annual financial reports. . . They are used to it. . .

But... the premise is that no one dies!

Just like what the master said, "No one can die. How can we make money if people die!"

Damn Jiang Wen, this movie is enough for his life, he must apply for World Heritage!

Zero-yuan purchase is a small matter.

But death is a big deal!

So people generally don't stop zero-yuan purchase. Even if there is really a blockade, most people will just give up... It's very simple, at most they can just go to the next store!

So people died in the zero-yuan purchase riot, and as in the previous news, large-scale deaths are definitely not normal!

So Catherine and Kelly reacted so strongly.

They thought there was some conspiracy or something.

But when they flew over the city, they found out... things were not what they imagined... the whole city was in chaos.

Countless people started smashing and looting on the streets. If you look closely at these people, you will find that their expressions and behaviors are obviously wrong.

Their eyes were bloodshot, as if they were high, constantly venting the darkest and most intense emotions in their hearts. Not only smashing and looting, but more unbearable things were also happening.

Kelly couldn't believe what she saw.

"Wait... am I dazzled? Or is the Resident Evil series restarted? Such a big investment?"

Kelly didn't say anything at this time, but she couldn't believe it all... What was going on? In the early morning, she didn't even brush her teeth, and Chicago really became a battlefield?

"No... that series is completely rotten, and it will take more than ten years to restart it. What's more... can't you smell it? There is blood everywhere! This is real, not a film set."

Resident Evil, whether it is a movie or a game, is a master at rehashing old things, but the movie has been a failure recently, and the fifth and sixth parts have both failed. It is estimated that no one will pay to continue rehashing old things.

Kelly was dumbfounded. She still thought that all this was an illusion.

Of course, the most important thing is that everything in front of her made her not know what to do.

For example, now there is an evil enemy invading.

Then what to do is simple.

Beat the enemy.

For another example, this is a gang riot.

It is also simple to do.

Beat the gang.

But the residents of this city started to kill each other...what to do?

She can't kill all the residents in the city, right?

"What should we do now?"

"Something is wrong, nine out of ten. Although the residents of Chicago are very irritable, it's not that bad. Do you feel that something is wrong with the whole city?"

Catherine looked carefully.

"You said that...something is really wrong. I always feel that the filter is a bit heavy."

Girls, they are very knowledgeable about things like photo editing and filters.

For example, if you show a photo to a non-professional straight man, he may not be able to see anything. But if you show it to a girl who hangs out in the circle of friends, she will immediately tell you that there is definitely something wrong with this photo.

That's the filter.

He added a filter!

"I always feel that the world in my eyes seems to have been added with a red filter."

"That's right!" Catherine nodded decisively and said, "This was done by someone! Find the mastermind behind it, and everything will be settled!"

After that, Catherine immediately began to search in the city.

Kelly also hurriedly followed.

In fact, at this time, it was not just Chicago.

Major cities around the world have had some problems one after another.