The practical reality is that thieves can now walk into a store and steal whatever they can without fear of police intervening—as long as it's under $950.

The trend of de-facto legalization of shoplifting is spreading across the country.

What is your take?

Doug Casey: The rise in crime in general and the veritable legalization of shoplifting, in particular, are really just symptoms.

The real problem is that the moral fabric of the US and many other Western countries are torn. There's not much of a moral compass left. It's no longer clear to the average American what is right and what is wrong. Right and wrong is now viewed as arbitrary social constructs. Property rights are barely even seen as rights, which is perverse since the very concept of rights is based on property—starting with your own body, which is the most basic form of property.

This degeneration is understandable in a world where black is white and wrong is right. It's become unclear in many people's minds what a man is, what a woman is, and what the difference is. If there's no recognition of something as basic and obvious as that, the meaning of words, and any logic in thought, becomes meaningless. So, of course, they have trouble understanding concepts like right and wrong. But it goes beyond that.