> Why are people desperate enough to raid their own communities of basic infrastructure?

At least in Arizona, it’s a lot of meth addicts. (Friend works in the space, albeit around water versus electrical infrastructure.)

We do need to provide better services, but that's not going to solve this issue. The vast majority of people struggling to make ends meet don't stoop to destroying public infrastructure. Only the true anti-social assholes go there.

Why assume it's driven by desperation rather than alienation?

It doesn't take desperation to "raid [one]'s own community of basic infrastructure" -- the news shows rich and very un-desperate people doing that right in the open every day, both with and without the protection of the law.

What it does take is people just not caring about each other very much.

It would indeed be great to have a society where even the worst off could be safe and secure, but that seems orthogonal to the problem of why people take from others like this. This is not stealing bread for the day's meal.

The vast majority of this is ordinary theft, not desperation.

I've been acquainted in the past with many people who engaged in this type of crime. Perception is that it is relatively low-risk. It was mostly just a side hustle to pay for beer or drugs, people weren't doing it to put food on the table. There has been a strong underground market for stolen "scrap" metal for as long as I've been alive.

It isn't just copper or catalytic converters. Theft of agricultural irrigation piping is sporadically fashionable, for example.

America needs to reflect on why it's unique amongst first world countries at having third world problems.

These are thieves looking for a quick buck. They aren’t desperately poor.

Th US spends >$30K per year on HUD, medicaid, and food stamps for every person whose household income poverty line. The idea that this issue is somehow evidence of the need for more welfare is only possible if you don't have any idea how much we're already spending on welfare. This low-effort, blindly empathetic mindset of "oh those poor criminals" will be the death of our civilization.

Is this what they call “victim blaming”? Why does it have to be society’s fault and not the people stealing the copper?

If we have litter and excrement all over the streets, do we blame ourselves instead of the people littering? Is every “this is why we can’t have nice things” situation actually our own fault? How about holding people accountable for their actions?

Look at the comments. In the US, we aren't interested in fixing systemic issues. We know what causes crime but it's believed that punishment and retribution is the answer even though it's not at all true.