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Banditry/highwaymen have been a feature of societies with high inequality for a long time. It's a big reason that people congregated behind city walls since t

• HarryHirsch 7y ago
  Bruce Schneier's had a blog post a few years back about the increase in copper theft. His take was that copper is too valuable and a segment of the population too poor for it not to happen. The same reasoning would apply to porch piracy.
  • vorpalhex 7y ago
    The people who engage in porch piracy are overwhelmingly well off from what we've seen. It's not the poor kid down the block you have to be suspicious of, but your middle class neighbor who probably needs to have an intervention. Despite the physical nature of it, it's an almost white collar crime.
    • soylentcola 7y ago
      Really? Judging by the security cam clips occasionally posted to Nextdoor in my neighborhood, it's usually nearby residents (sometimes repeat offenders) who are known to have drug dependency issues, teens walking around hitting multiple houses, or the occasional drunken asshole walking home at night and deciding to vandalize or steal the box that's still sitting on the porch from earlier in the day. But of course the whole thing about anecdotes and data applies so this may not be the norm. I'd be interested to see data on these sorts of thefts.
• unishark 7y ago
  I think bandits/highwaymen would be those who steal by physical force. Burglars steal surreptitiously. And I think the main reason the wealthy build the walls is because they're the only ones who can afford to. Everyone's safety is improved by hiding behind some good walls.
  • danans 7y ago
    > I think bandits/highwaymen would be those who steal by physical force. Burglars steal surreptitiously. Fine, add burglary to the list. The how matters less than the why. Addressing the why makes us consider how the structure of society incentivizes the crime. Camera systems are also going up in public spaces to deter robberies.