This article was originally published on 23 February 2023:

Shoplifting, history’s most ancient and arguably most common crime, has been on the rise. Last year shoplifting increased by 21 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics, and even those who are supposed to prevent theft are becoming empathetic to those who can’t afford essential products due to the soaring cost of living. “Most people are stealing one or two items alongside their regular shop in an attempt to reduce their bills and I don’t blame them. I have friends who do the same,” a UK security officer told Vice last month. As well as a means for survival, shoplifting is becoming a form of civil disobedience too, with young anti-capitalists harnessing the power of social media to take on big corporations – walking out of stores like Target, Walmart, Tesco, and Sainsburys without paying.

Shoplifting is not a new phenomenon. It’s been around just as long as shops themselves, and began to gain traction in the 17th century as shopkeepers started displaying their goods behind glass windows, which subsequently made them easier to steal. But since then, shoplifting has evolved from a necessity into something much more politicised. In the 2011 book The Steal: A Cultural History of Shoplifting, Rachel Stier observed “a new more ironic international generation of political shoplifters has come into view”. While it’s hard to pinpoint when exactly people began to shoplift as an act of anti-capitalist defiance, it’s clear that young people are the driving force behind this trend.

According to a 2021 Axios poll, 52 per cent of Gen Zers in the US held negative feelings toward capitalism, while in the UK 67 per cent of young people favoured a socialist economic model. This makes sense, as young people are at the sharp end of generational inequality. The federal minimum wage in the US has stayed at $7.25 and hour for the past 13 years, and hasn’t accounted for inflation since the 60s, while here in the UK cost of living has gone up so much that two in five Gen Zers work more than one job to make ends meet. With all this in mind, it’s unsurprising that so many people are either needing to shoplift to afford basic necessities, are keen to protest against the system, or both. “I don’t believe that stealing from large corporations is immoral, as it detracts from systems that exploit its workers and resources for economic gain,” Mariana, 19, tells Dazed.

Over on the r/shoplifting1 subreddit, the most common place people admitted to shoplifting from was Walmart, with Target and grocery stores just behind. Many of the posts show meat and oil in the hands of shoplifters (in the UK, security tags have now been placed on Tesco’s milk and Aldi’s cheese). Another post discussed the correlation between the cost of items and theft, reading: “Inflation isn’t real, make things cheaper or I will simply steal them.” This is an increasingly relevant sentiment, as inflation in the UK has gone up 22 per cent, while in the US people are also struggling to get food on the table as grocery prices hit an all-time high.

Over on TikTok, hashtags like #shoplifters and #borrowingtips are growing in popularity. In one video, a user makes it clear that they do “not care” and do “not feel sorry” for stealing, condemning “the audacity of these big corporations, who net billions of dollars a year, and still refuse to pay their workers a living wage, to complain about theft”. Some creators are asking people not to report it if they see someone steal, like this TikTok that says: “Hey kids, if you see someone shoplifting at the grocery store, no you didn’t.” Not only are people stealing on TikTok, but they are also teaching others how to do it. In this 14-minute compilation of “borrowing TikToks”, users detail tips and tricks for stealing.

Todd*, a 16-year-old from Texas, applies a cost-benefit approach to this. “Many corporations overwork their workers, and I believe stealing helps those shoplifting more than it harms corporations.” Lucy*, another teenager from Texas, adds: “It’s not like Walmart is going bankrupt because I stole a lip balm. Capitalism is inescapable, there is always going to be corporate greed so there’s always going to be theft.”

Similarly, young people in the UK are faulting changes in their government for the rise of shoplifting. “Capitalism is becoming worse by the day, and with a Conservative prime minister, there is always a new way to exploit the poor,” says Kate*, a 20-year-old from London. “Through the internet and social media, teens understand when they steal from big organisations that have a lot of power, they can go against the rules to show their frustration.”

It’s not even that young people want to wreak havoc, some just don’t believe that priced items should cost that much – or even cost anything at all. A prime example is menstruation products. “Nothing pertaining to an uncontrollable bodily function should be hidden behind a paywall,” says Todd. Lucy adds that inflation is causing essential items to become increasingly more expensive, and that it wouldn’t concern her if she saw someone shoplifting. “Obviously they are stealing that item because they need it [...] what they take is not my business,” she says. “What exempts a corporation from being held accountable for the similar actions of an individual in need? How does shifting the focus of stealing to an immoral individual distract from the injustice corporations perpetuate against us?” Mariana adds.

While many people would agree that big businesses shouldn’t hoard wealth and that stealing essential items shouldn’t be penalised, some feel that this movement might be encouraging young people to put themselves at risk, and that there are better ways to approach anti-capitalism. “Young people and civil disobedience are frequently vilified, [so] any association of a social movement with stealing discredits it as a recognised means of protest,” says Mariana. “[But] I believe that most young people often pursue other avenues for social change.” Ultimately, shoplifting is an individual solution to the systemic corporate greed problem, but that doesn’t mean that it’s totally ineffectual or pointless. In desperate situations, people will often feel like they have no choice but to resort to desperate methods – even if it’s theft.

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