The Moral and Ethical Implication of Theft

My car was broken into this past weekend; a long weekend at that. I was furious. How could some one knowingly do this to someone else’s property? I had a Garmin c550 in a hidden console. Other than that, the only valuables in the car was some pocket change in the middle council. This was also hidden. This lead me to believe that it was a random break in. Perhaps it was some kids looking for something valuable?

My car is a Red Nissan Altima, 2007. It’s a nice car, not a Porsche, but a relatively nice automobile. Perhaps they saw the car and was hoping that I had some cash or other valuables. In the end it was probably some kids looking for some money and a rush.

They broke the passenger side window. I think it was amateur because they first tried to bust the handle, and then the damaged my side paneling when using it as leverage to bust in the window. In total, there is probably about $3000 dollars worth of damage done to the car.

But this got me to thinking. I was upset and angry because I felt violated. Someone damaged my car as well as stole some of my property. Obviously it’s a crime because I paid for the items and they took them from me without asking. But what is the difference between this and stealing software, songs or copyrighted material on the internet?

I know that I have and probably will continue to download songs over the internet. I made a conscious choice to switch to Linux in order to avoid using illegal versions of proprietary software. But songs, I will likely continue to download from torrent sites. And yet, I do not feel remorse for stealing these things.

Is it because:

1. Songs are and abstract medium with no physical substance (unlike my Garmin)?

2. Stealing from large nameless corporations isn’t wrong. We should being doing this because the artist in the end makes a fraction of what the record label makes from the artist’s en devour?

3. We choose which actions are right and wrong based on convenience. There are no morals or ethics, only decisions and choices?

Guilt is like a bag of bricks. You just have to let it go. Obviously, this only works when you are the one stealing (not the one being stolen from), and the dilemma remains unsolved.

Let me know what you think.

Categories: economy, linux, rants, stupidity
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