Stealing is Fair/unfair.

[figsfiggyfigs]

Discuss your views on Stealing and what you think about it.

What is the difference between stealing a pen from someone without their knowledge, to stealing an ice-cream from an ice-cream truck.

We're going to apply the slippery slope concept, where do you draw the line?

How do you justify the action?

 

[Nicodemus]

It is fair as long as I do not care about the proprietor.

 

[Totenkindly]

For the two things you mention, I probably see them both as equal, morally (although I think it's easier to steal the pen, logistically) ...

...except at work, where the pen supplies are provided by the employer. So if someone takes someone else's pen, it's more a "reallocation of resources" than it is an actual theft, and the "victim" can always acquire more free pens from the employer's stash.

EDIT: Nico, where do you live?

 

[Nicodemus]

EDIT: Nico, where do you live?

Pyongyang. I own the fucking country.

I thought you see IPs. Use your powers.

 

[chickpea]

i'd feel wrong stealing from an individual (unless they were rich) or a small business. big corporation chain stores are different though because nobody's being directly affected by it.

 

[rav3n]

Whoah, major can of worms YW!

What is theft? Acquisition without the right to property. What is right? Anything that's legally sanctioned. So what happens when a tyrannical government chooses to legislate out your individual rights so coercive acquisition of individual property becomes legally sanctioned? As examples of such, take progressive taxation or the slave trade.

 

[Totenkindly]

Pyongyang. I own the fucking country.

I thought you see IPs. Use your powers.

I can read the sidebar.
(Got humor lately?)

 

[Betty Blue]

I have posted about this befor (i think).
For me it boils down to who are you stealing from and why. Sit dependant.
E.g For an individual who has taken nothing but crap from the system and been screwed over financially because of it... i'd say hats off if they managed to defraud a multinational out of a million.
If someone who just didn't give a shit and had no need to steal, stole from a family run corner shop...i'd be very cross.
I have stolen befor, never anything worth real money, and i have not lost any sleep over it.
Fraud well thats ... i'm not discussing that.

 

[Nicodemus]

I can read the sidebar.

If that were enough, I would not have added the second line.

(Got humor lately?)

Lately? How offensive.

 

[Sniffles]

Stealing is unfair and injust.

 

[Savage Idealist]

It all depends on the circumstances of the situation; who is being stolen from, by who, what's being stolen, how much, why, etc. Sometimes stealing is completely fair (taxes), other times it's wrong (grand theft).

 

[Lark]

Context is needed.

I dont even consider transfers like tax theft, whether its costing me or benefiting me. As a principle I believe that theft is wrong and I've known most thieves not to be motivated by material need, immediate or figurative, or strict financial gain but a whole mix of things, some of them pretty perverse.

 

[Thalassa]

Like lying, stealing is a survival skill which is contextual. Are you stealing food because you're starving to death, or are you just stealing for dishonest personal gain? I am completely understanding of the former, and think the latter is unfair, to say the very least.

 

[Thalassa]

i'd feel wrong stealing from an individual (unless they were rich) or a small business. big corporation chain stores are different though because nobody's being directly affected by it.

Yeah, I tend to agree with this in theory, but I agreed with it in fact as a teenager, because I think these corporations steal from other people, so why not take it back from their greedy asses.

However, as an adult, I don't advocate shoplifting.

 

[KDude]

Stealing is OK if you're wearing green tights.

Or, if the product itself explicitly encourages you to steal.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKhEoytKk6U]/[/youtube]

 

[Santosha]

Whoah, major can of worms YW!

What is theft? Acquisition without the right to property. What is right? Anything that's legally sanctioned. So what happens when a tyrannical government chooses to legislate out your individual rights so coercive acquisition of individual property becomes legally sanctioned? As examples of such, take progressive taxation or the slave trade.

 

[Stigmata]

Always wrong morally, yet in certain circumstances logical and justifiable. While I generally try to stay away from giving credence to intentions and values in relation to justifying actions, I could certain see the sense in stealing in the event it is imperative toward my own survival versus stealing as to please a self-indulgent urge, that doesn't make more or less morally correct despite that.

 

[Thalassa]

Always wrong morally, yet in certain circumstances logical and justifiable. While I generally try to stay away from giving credence to intentions and values in relation to justifying actions, I could certain see the sense in stealing in the event it is imperative toward my own survival versus stealing as to please a self-indulgent urge, that doesn't make more or less morally correct despite that.

It's interesting how your sense of morality is so absolute, which in my opinion isn't logical. There's a concept in United States law called mens rea , which essentially means the crime is judged by a person's intent. Perhaps the legal system is more Te/Fi and your thinking is Ti/Fe. Don't know.

 

[Lark]

Doesnt anyone else find the suggestion of moral equvialence between progressive taxation and slavery ridiculous or offensive?

 

[Thalassa]

Doesnt anyone else find the suggestion of moral equvialence between progressive taxation and slavery ridiculous or offensive?

I find it completely ridiculous and absurd, but it's such an emotional and exaggerated statement, though, I couldn't possibly find it offensive.