"It's OK to steal if nobody knows."

[quiet_samurai]

This is something I believe in. If you take something of someone else's, it clearly hasn't affected them.
What do you think?

EDIT: I never said I do steal; I don't need to. For example: Say I have some friends coming over, and we want to watch a film. Maybe my sister, who is out for a few days, has a DVD we all like, and I go into her room and take it, then we watch it, then I put it back before she notices it's missing. She hasn't been looking for it. It's being borrowed hasn't affected her at all. See?

Um... your example isn't really stealing. You just borrowed something, used it for it's intended purpose, and put it back. Granted you didn't ask, but your intentions were innocent. Now if you took it down to the pawn shop and sold it, without her ever noticing, then yes that is stealing... and wrong.

However, I'm not going to lie, I have stolen things from restraunts and stores and such, but never a person, like from their home or vehicle. Well... never a person I liked anyways.

And even though I knew I shouldn't, I did it anyways, without really feeling bad.

For example, I dated this girl, her ex husband wouldnt give her mountain bike back to her. He technically owned it, because he payed for it. But I... one dark shadowy night liberated it from him. He was a dick... and only kept it out of spite. So... hence... I didn't feel bad about it, at all.

So it really just depends on the situation... and whether or not you can morally handle it.

 

[Vault101]

This is something I believe in. If you take something of someone else's, it clearly hasn't affected them.
What do you think?

EDIT: I never said I do steal; I don't need to. For example: Say I have some friends coming over, and we want to watch a film. Maybe my sister, who is out for a few days, has a DVD we all like, and I go into her room and take it, then we watch it, then I put it back before she notices it's missing. She hasn't been looking for it. It's being borrowed hasn't affected her at all. See? Oh, and by nobody knowing, I mean nobody being affected.

thats not stealing..thats borrowing without prmission

stealing is where the person isnt intended to get it back..and no, its not ok, they will find out eventually

 

[uzo]

I believe in the redistribution of wealth. That is, what's mine is mine and what's everyone else's is mine too.

But seriously ... I consider theft to be the little guy's version of pillage. If you're a big tough git you just take what you want and no one can stop you. If you're a little guy, you just take what you want went no one's looking. And blame it on the big guy.

No no no no seriously ... there's ... no ... I grow weary of this.

Stealing's bad, mmkay.

People in the past have stolen for food, to keep their families alive ... these days people seem to steal because they want something they're not prepared to work for. It's cheating at LIFE.

 

[FalloutJack]

*Snerk*

Like anyone here's really gonna admit to stealing. THEN, SOMEONE WOULD KNOW!

 

[Greni]

If you are poor you may steal from the rich all you like. They are stealing from you all the time so all in all it's just balancing it out.

 

[Jedoro]

No

That's like saying killing hobos is okay because their family is all dead and nobody will miss them.

Okay, maybe not, but just because it doesn't affect anyone, doesn't make it any less wrong.

 

[Jakub324]

This is something I believe in. If you take something of someone else's, it clearly hasn't affected them.
What do you think?

EDIT: I never said I do steal; I don't need to. For example: Say I have some friends coming over, and we want to watch a film. Maybe my sister, who is out for a few days, has a DVD we all like, and I go into her room and take it, then we watch it, then I put it back before she notices it's missing. She hasn't been looking for it. It's being borrowed hasn't affected her at all. See? Oh, and by nobody knowing, I mean nobody being affected.

thats not stealing..thats borrowing without prmission

stealing is where the person isnt intended to get it back..and no, its not ok, they will find out eventually

I've said this a few times: I'm talking about if they would never know, and you could guarantee it. Otherwise it's almost worthless as a hypothetical exercise.

 

[Jakub324]

There is a flaw with your way of thinking though. Take this for example. Lets say that out of the blue I just smack you in the face really hard. I am not threatening your life, but after several smacks your going to want to fight. You keep taking stuff without asking and your going to have a devil of a time explaining it. Just because you can get away with it, doesn't mean you should. Do you like getting smacked by people you know you can't beat up?

I really don't understand anything you just said. A better example, if I understand what you said correctly, would be someone sticking me the finger whenever I'm not looking. They think it's hilarious, but I'll never know, so it's never gonna affect me.

 

[n00beffect]

Oh, that's the whole 'if a tree falls etc.' thing. Yeah, but see, there're these things called facts. Usually they exist, regardless of our knowledge of them, or whether they affect us or not. Fact remains, that if you stole something, you stole it. It may not affect the person you've stolen it from, but it does affect you, or the people around you, who know. Now, if we're talking about the judicial definition of theft, then I cannot say, for I am not that well acquainted with the exact descriptions of laws, and such; however, from a logical and philosophical aspect, it's still theft.

 

[coffeedrinker]

In Skyrim, yes. In real life, no.

This.
The first thing i thought when reading the topic was Skyrim. I even thought it -was- about Skyrim. Only if really necessary.

But in real-life? I wouldn´t even have the idea of stealing, even if so, the thought would haunt me for the rest of my life, even if i were Robin Hood.

EDIT:
I once lost my wallet in the city. My bank account card, ID card and 50 euros were inside. About four months later, after i reported my lost item to the police, someone actually gave it to the police office. Everything was still inside, ID, bank card, even the money and he didn´t even want a reward.
Well, i wish everyone would think like this dude, so that´s the reason why i never want to get involved in thievery.

 

[babinro]

No.

This could be as trivial as knowingly accepting too much change from a store and not admitting to it. Taking minor things like a pen from your workplace, or of course piracy.

Granted, it is much easier to steal when the consequences are essentially non-existent, but you are still gaining or profiting at the expense of someone else.

 

[Auron225]

No it isn't. Unless you know they aren't going to miss it at all, then why not just ask them if you can borrow it or even keep it? And its not ok to take something even if you intend to eventually give it back. Its at the very least being a royal prick to nick something from someone and give it back later saying "Thanks for letting me borrow that!". The response is always "I didn't lend it to you, you stole it". To borrow something, you need the consent of the individual it belongs to.

 

[Auron225]

Double post -.-

 

[Shadowcreed]

If you feel that they don't need the object that you're planning on taking, then what holds you back from asking to borrow it if you plan on returning anyway? By the logic of 'it won't affect them' then there's also no reason to not let you borrow it, which in turn makes it simple to just ask for the object for a while?
Also, by taking something that Isn't yours and saying well it won't affect them anyway, you cannot know this for certain. You might think it won't affect them but really sometimes there's more to an object for special reason for this person, while that doesn't apply to you. Say a photograph could have special value to someone.

To the point - If you take something from someone else without them knowing it, with the argument 'hey well they won't need it anyway, it won't affect them' then there's no reason not to ask for it when possible.
The example you gave with that video that's all well and good and personally I don't even consider that stealing, its a family object and doesn't even leave the close proximity of the person it belongs to. Its a trivial deal, I'm pointing out more valuable things. If you borrow a pen from someone without them knowing then yeah that would be stealing in a sense, but that would hardly be world breaking. Just return the damn thing.

 

[DolorousEdd]

Just ask them, or bring it back when you don't need it yourself anymore... Then it's not even worth talking about. No problem whatsoever. If there is, it's personal, because someone is an ass who'll never grant one anything, or something like that (at best: "couldn't you even have asked?").

 

[Jakub324]

You cant just take someone else's property. If they're not using it you could just point that out and ask if you could have it, but don't go all Robin Hood and take stuff that doesn't belong to you just because.

I think you've got the wrong idea. I'm talking about borrowing (because it's always a temporary measure) a pencil, with intention of putting it back, resharpened, or replacing it if it's noticeably shorter, not taking someone's mobile and keeping it forever.

 

[Jakub324]

No it isn't. Unless you know they aren't going to miss it at all, then why not just ask them if you can borrow it or even keep it? And its not ok to take something even if you intend to eventually give it back. Its at the very least being a royal prick to nick something from someone and give it back later saying "Thanks for letting me borrow that!". The response is always "I didn't lend it to you, you stole it". To borrow something, you need the consent of the individual it belongs to.

What, 20 minutes counts as eventually now? And they won't miss it in that time, or I wouldn't do it. I'm not some amoral tosser, I just believe that if it only affects one person, and nobody else would ever know, it's not a bad thing. Anyway, at least I have the decency to make sure it finds it's way back before it's owner notices it's absence. My sister has spent significant portions of her life borrowing my stuff for days, or even weeks at a time, or even until I ask to have it back.

 

[Vegosiux]

But yeah, don't steal things. The example you described is just borrowing from your sister. If you did that with a stranger's car then that's wrong, and would be considered theft.

Wouldn't it be joyriding?

And again, joyriding is still an offense, but an offense distinctly separate from theft.