Poll: Stealing

[gagalloogie]

Is stealing ok, surely under some circumstances, say you were starving, or the only way to help someone was to steal money for them. Like for example, I know people who've stolen from Asda before, just food, though some idiots were caught trying to sneak out 16 bottles of vodka, anyway, would you say that was totally wrong, stealing about £5 worth of food from a megastore who make so much money it won't make any difference? Or is it, no matter how big or small inherently wrong? Anyway what do you think?

(Asda is basically Walmart for British people, and I dunno what any other equivelent is so sorry others)

edit: The people who stole the food were middle/upper-middle class students (16-18 yrs old), and didn't actually need to steal it, which obviously might change your opionion of them stealing the food

 

[KaiRai]

Kudos to those guys for trying. I mean jeez they were stupid and it was never going to work, but you gotta try right?

I once saw a guy walk out of Sainsburys holding a PS3 after he'd put it through as mushrooms. that was quite entertaining.

I guess if it's a huge corporation and it's completely necessary then yeah, but otherwise, it's just harsh.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Eh...stealing isn't the base of the problem. The roots of it all come from living conditions. If you are poor, you may learn that stealing is a way to get by, and through this, it isn't entirely "wrong" since you see yourself as justified for doing so.

On the other hand, if you are doing well, stealing something...just doesn't sit that well with you. I have never stole something, but thats because I live relatively comfortably, and I was brought up with some form of morals.

 

[Simalacrum]

well, Asda deserve to be stolen from, the crap-selling bastards...

Ehem, anyways, I do see what your saying, but we also need to consider the people who are being stolen from aswell.

For example, following on with the starving person thing, what if you stole food to keep yourself alive, but consequently someone else starves?

We always need to look at both sides of the coin (or more sides, in some cases) before we take action.

 

[El Poncho]

Well say you just got fired and can not pay for food then i'm sure you have to steal food, you don't get punished for stealing you get punished for getting caught.

 

[0p3rati0n]

stealing is wrong and its a crime. You can survive through life without stealing. Even if your starving you just need to develop methods.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

stealing is wrong and its a crime. You can survive through life without stealing. Even if your starving you just need to develop methods.

Tell that to the guy who lost his job and him and his family are going to be evicted from their home because they can't pay the rent anymore since they need to buy food with the rent money. So they either live on the street and end up having to steal food, or they have shelter for another month and barely get by through stealing some food to tide themselves over.

 

[JenXXXJen]

Only ever if certain conditions are met

However, just because I don't think it's OK doesn't mean I won't do it

 

[Valate_v1legacy]

If you are living the life of a 19'th century urchin, and you arent stealing, you either get my kudos, my lunch, or me calling you stupid.

 

[Altorin]

technically, it's never right to "steal" something, as in, take something from someone without their knowledge.

I mean, if you're starving, there are people out there that will give you food, at least in the first world.

That doesn't mean I personally have a problem with people stealing (well, stuff that isn't mine obvs.), but to try and say that you NEEDED to steal, or that it was alright to steal for whatever reasons you can come up with just seems silly to me.

It's stealing. We all know it's wrong. At least the non-sociopathic ones.

 

[Chaos Bringer]

I've stolen stuff before. Not that hard.

 

[Andalusa]

Stealing is wrong, whatever the circumstances.

 

[lostclause]

Extreme need is a fair defence but since there are usually some sort of shelter which can care for you, it's not a very good one. Stealing from someone in the same desperate state is not a good idea either in my view.

 

[SkylerRock]

On principle I am against theft, though I would get more annoyed about theft from an independent retailer than from someone like Tesco who reported, what was it, £1.6 Billion profit this quarter. I wouldn't begrudge a starving man some food though.

Strangely I'm not against the idea of cat burglars as, as fiction leads me to believe, they only really steal stuff that is important to people who earn in an hour what I earn in a year. And I'm well paid.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I used to be A-OK with stealing but generic evil guys laughing as they stole from poor starving orphans kinda made me wanna edit that a little.

I think stealing for the most part is ok, but having someone break into my house would be SUCH a pain >_> so I'm mostly just ok with stealing food and possibly spare change.

 

[Lord George]

Its fair game if you get away with it, should teach the store to beef up security.

 

[USSR]

stealing is wrong and its a crime. You can survive through life without stealing. Even if your starving you just need to develop methods.

If you think about it, people steal money from us all the time.
I mean, Microsoft could charge you $1200 for a PC that could be built for $500.

..$700 for Labor and a brand name, I don't think so.

And I'm not just saying Microsoft, many people do it, yet they don't consider it to be "illegal".

 

[chronobreak]

I have no moral problem with stealing. If something is there for the taking, take it, and deal with whatever consequences your particular society have set up. Of course there are exceptions, but there would likely be too many scenarios to list.

 

[Cakes]

How could you say stealing is always wrong? It doesn't make sense to deal in absolutes like that. I really don't think you should begrudge a starving man for stealing a loaf of bread.

 

[Cakes]

There's also kleptomaniacs, but those guys are a different story entirely.