Poll: Is it culturally acceptable to steal from walmart?

[beddo]

I have a friend that steals from walmart on a regular basis, he is a crazy wanna be anarchist in college with me, who believes that everyone is okay with stealing from walmart, so it' no big deal. I know the're spossed to be evil, and I hate there business practices, so I should be okay with stealing from them, right? Wrong.I fear for the jobs of the store employees, and the status of the economy, not to mention the law, but what do you guys think? Is it okay to steal from walmart.

Edit. let it be noted he mostly steals pc games, since they are not in a locked case.

You can't justify stealing just because you think that they are an evil company. A lot of people rely on Wal-Mart for employment. Believe it or not the easiest place to recoup theft is from wages and/or small bonuses for the base workforce.

If you have a problem with the ethics of Wal-Mart then you should write to your local Senator or Congressman. Even consider non-violent protesting. If their practices are illegal then you could report them where you see it.

It is in no way your right or responsibility to punish Wal-Mart for what you perceive them to be doing wrong. That would just make you a vigilante. A rather ineffective one at that because your petty thefts will not help draw attention to any exploitation they may be involved in.

What I expect is more likely is that thieves try to justify themselves by saying they are only affecting a large faceless corporation. If stealing is so acceptable then would your friend be okay with people taking his things?

He hardly sounds like an anarchist given that he has a PC and goes to college. Sounds to me like he's a petty thief who watched Fight Club one too many times.


One last note, your spelling and use of grammar and punctuation needs a lot of work, let me elaborate; 'their' not 'there', should be used to show that items or characteristics belong to a person or group. You should leave a space after a period or full stop. Why spell supposed incorrectly when you bother to spell 'okay'?

 

[Jamash]

do you know how much money we lose every year to shoplifters? The electronics department at my store lost $50,000 last year alone! Which means the store probably lost over $100,000!

Yes, Wal-Mart will call the police and have you arrested for shoplifting in the store. The things people do for a criminal record, oi.

Apparently many shoplifters are too crafty for Wal-Mart security. Who'd have thought?

This thread has officially become ironic. Today, a man attempted to walk out of the store with two, count 'em, two computers! I'm serious, he tried leaving the store with two large computer boxes in his cart!

Security didn't even need to try, this guy wrapped himself and stuck a big bow on his head. Some people... *facepalm*

You'd be amazed how easy it is to walk out of a place like that with a massive television and no one blinking an eyelid. All it takes is confidence, a couple of simple tricks and a little bit of luck on your side.

That's true, I had a friend who stole 2 computers from Asda, simply by picking the box up off the shelf and walking out with it.

Stupidly the shop assumed the boxes would be too heavy to steal, so there was no security tags on them, and anyone (including staff and security guards) who saw him carrying the computers just assumed he bought them, because nobody would walk out of the shop with a £500 computer, would they?

He stole one on a Saturday and another the very next day, both times nobody challenged him about whether he'd paid for the computers.

Sometimes the more blatant a theft is, the easier it is to pull off.

 

[beddo]

I wouldn't say stealing is wrong but it's definitely not culturally acceptable. Of course, this is all completely subjective.

Sweet, since to you stealing is ok, when can I come over to your house. Do you own a console system? Next Gen or Old gen?

I don't own a console system and the only computer I have is a piece of junk ; )

Anyway, that's not what I meant when I said stealing isn't "wrong". It's all circumstancial. If a starving kid stole a loaf of bread and didn't have any money or anything else to eat, is that wrong? How about Robin Hood? Is he evil?

These are cases of the rich stealing from the poor. If a child is starving and has no one looking after them then we are the ones stealing from that child. In Robin Hood, the barons robbed the people of the land and it was more of a civil dispute than a simple series of crimes (I know it's fictitious).

In my opinion, when people take excessive wealth and leave others in poverty they are stealing from everyone else.

 

[orifice]

Stealing is stealing. There are other ways to oppose walmart.

 

[Aries_Split]

Is it culturally acceptable to burn down the I.R.S building?

 

[Rankao]

Your friend isn't an anarchist, if he wants society to crumble then he is merely someone with a penchant for destruction.

that is a unintended side affect of anarchy.

Remember Escapist, Piracy is immoral. Stealing from wal-mart is ok!

 

[Caimekaze]

Your friend isn't an anarchist, if he wants society to crumble then he is merely someone with a penchant for destruction.

that is a unintended side affect of anarchy.

Remember Escapist, Piracy is immoral. Stealing from wal-mart is ok!

Actually, anarchists believe in a society based around mutual beneficial co-existance, people getting along for the good of all rather than the fear of repercussions. We had to study this for legal studies >.<

 

[sneak_copter]

I've got an Idea... let's fly over to China and talk to the children who work in the sweatshops making products for these big supermarkets and see if they think stealing from Wal-Mart is culturally acceptable.

Wal-Mart is pure evil.

 

[conquerworm]

I wouldn't say stealing is wrong but it's definitely not culturally acceptable. Of course, this is all completely subjective.

Sweet, since to you stealing is ok, when can I come over to your house. Do you own a console system? Next Gen or Old gen?

I don't own a console system and the only computer I have is a piece of junk ; )

Anyway, that's not what I meant when I said stealing isn't "wrong". It's all circumstancial. If a starving kid stole a loaf of bread and didn't have any money or anything else to eat, is that wrong? How about Robin Hood? Is he evil?

Whether you can JUSTIFY it doesn't change the fact that its still wrong. Stealing is wrong. The kid stealing food to live is wrong but that shouldn't stop him from doing it to live because life is more important then the fact that what he did was wrong. But at the same time He should be taught that he shouldn't continue doing it if he has a choice.

The fact that he had to steal to eat, in my mind is a bigger wrong.

 

[luckshot]

Maybe I'm a little naive, but I strongly believe that it is never ok to steal. No matter what the situation is you are taking something from someone else, something that doesn't belong to you, and that other person may have worked hard to get. If you steal something it is because you are too lazy to work hard and get it the correct way.

Agree.. Second that!

thirded. people do have to work to cover losses through theft. the corporation is evil? an evil filled with mostly honest hardworking people at every level, what if stealing at a branch became so prevalent that they close the branch...then all the workers would transfer if they could or just lose their job...then problems with rent or tuition or what have you.

 

[MortisLegio]

There is spelled They're, and dude its Wallmart. WALLMART. So no, you can't steal anything from them. Because you would go to jail. But if you WERN'T to go to jail, then yes, steal everything you can from Walmart.

And I forgot that there is one l in Walmart. And I just hate them because they made my favorite hardware store go out of buisness

it is Weren't, If you are going to "spell check" people do it properly and No don't steal from Wal-mart.

 

[new_age_reject]

To me stealing is only justified in certain situations, such as in a person who cannot afford food to live and they steal from some one who won't feel an impact of the item being gone. In the walmart case no, your friend is just trying to justify his actions for free crap.

This.
No matter who it is you steal from, it's not right.
Unless you are Robin Hood and you steal from the big, evil rich to give to the small, kind poor.

 

[conquerworm]

Whether you can JUSTIFY it doesn't change the fact that its still wrong. Stealing is wrong. The kid stealing food to live is wrong but that shouldn't stop him from doing it to live because life is more important then the fact that what he did was wrong. But at the same time He should be taught that he shouldn't continue doing it if he has a choice.

The fact that he had to steal to eat, in my mind is a bigger wrong.

I entirely disagree. There's no such thing as wrong or right, only what's socially acceptable. Anyway, there's no point arguing about it, it looks like I can't change your mind, and you're not going to change my mind either.

Bahaaa, look its sheep. oh, sorry, I couldn't resist (hangs head in shame).

Anyhoo, I do find that statement very interesting! How do we define which societies "Sociable accepted" rules override which societies? Why? How many need to be in the group to define a society?

using as reference -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society

In the school I when to for HS the grade 9'ers felt it was a status point to steal from walmat but the more mature grads where wiser and know this is not a wise thing to do. which then makes it Sociable Acceptable in that group. Should the fact that its a crime over rule that rule? where do the lines get drawn?

 

[bad rider]

Edit. let it be noted he mostly steals pc games, since they are not in a locked case.

Soo, not in cases you say *grabs bag with swag marked on the side of it* "I'll be back in a few hours."

 

[irrelevantnugget]

There is spelled They're, and dude its Wallmart. WALLMART. So no, you can't steal anything from them. Because you would go to jail. But if you WERN'T to go to jail, then yes, steal everything you can from Walmart.

your an idiot, THERE is only one L in WALMART, and i forgot an apostrophe, sue me.

Sorry, mods, if I'm straying off the topic here, but... I'd just like to ask the OP if he's trolling himself on purpose or anything...

 

[Escapefromwhatever]

Why would he steal the DRM-infected copies and risk getting caught when he could just pirate?

And no I don't pirate.

 

[Keewa]

Wannabe anarchists make me lol inside.

Fighting the power whilst making full use of the legal system/police/health service/education service

 

[Keewa]

and hell no, stealing is always wrong. I think your friend knows that, and tries to assauge his guilt by telling himself that a company are evil. Does he hear voices too?

 

[Del-Toro]

What everyone loves to forget is that these "Big, evil corporations which are killing the mom and pop stores" started out AS mom and pop stores, or with several people, possibly several mom and pop stores, pooling resources on a shared gambit. They are big now because they did what they do well and grew. McDonalds started out as a single restaurant, who's schtick was efficiency, and it grew to what it is today thanks to a universal desire for speed. Wal-Mart started as a single store where people could buy in bulk for a good price, and people decided they liked having more money left at the end of the day, and Wal-Mart grew. I imagine Costco's story is somewhat similiar. Citigroup probably started out as a small chartered accountancy firm, but they did a good job, got some good clients and now they are near the top. Remember the episode of southpark where after destroying the Wal-Mart they all went to Jim's Drugs, which of course became a Wal-Mart esque establishment thanks to the amount of growth from all the patronage it got? That's basically how these things are formed. So no, it's not ok, either way, these Corporations tend to provide alot of jobs, like those through which people support themselves and their families, and doesn't a Wal-Mart employee recieve medical benefits? Just throwing that out there.

 

[D_987]

Any stealing is wrong - this "big, evil corporations" crap is just a poor justification.