Stealing From Work and Corporations...Good or Bad?

Originally posted by Paschar0
reply to post by nightbringr

 

I love people like you who know everything. You think you are who you are and have what you do because you "worked hard" or "were raised right". You believe you're better than others for this reason or that because of "insert self serving pompous reason here" Let me tell you something, most people work hard, most people are generally honest, you're nothing special. You're "blessed" with good fortune where your life turned out better than others and yet you have the audacity to think you caused it all through your own efforts. You haven't earned the right to judge anyone my friend, it wouldn't surprise me if you were a religious nut either, they also love to look down their noses at people while giving as little actual thought to something as possible.

And people like you make me sad. You do not see the value of good, honest hard work.

You think everything should be handed everything for free, and complain when your sense of entitlement feels threatened.

This OP is capable and sounds like he is not mentally deficient. Therefore he can improve himself and his life by educating himself. He is scum, plain and simple.

I came from a poor family who could not scratch two dimes together, but i wanted better. I worked 2 minimum wage jobs, saved enough for secondary school and now work a job i enjoy and make a decent living for my family and I. Yes, i did make it and so can you.

reply to post by nightbringr


I never said I agree with him, I said it "depends", and to me it does. I value hard work but also recognize good fortune because I've seen both sides of it. I too grew up with nothing and managed to come out all right. But there are MANY others who worked twice as hard as we think we have and come out with nothing, so you see, you were fortunate, things could just as easily change tomorrow for anyone and that doesn't even get into the myriad of other factors that make people do what they do. What irritates me is when people choose to deny or ignore this and wrongly assume hard work alone can change anything. It gives you the chance to, not a guarantee, and that alone is not all there is.

Stealing from jobs, especially ones which are run by a single individual or small group, seems counter-intuitive. If you steal, the employer has to replace what is stolen and, if the items are pricey enough, will have less money to give you a raise or hire more people. I don't see how stealing is "fighting the man."

Damn I can't stand thieves, lowly, cowardly, and pathetic. Just because someone or something has much more than you do doesn't give you the right to take from them. Don't use that stupid excuse that investors aren't working and laboring, but just sucking up dividends. They put up money!!! They worked hard and saved and invested to gain returns. Don't use that stupid excuse that corporations exploit your labor and profit off it, what do you expect them to do, give them all their profits to a cashier and a inventory stocker? I swear some of are just simple plain idiots.

Amazon.com once sent me 2 Leatherman multitools instead of just one that I ordered. I promptly packed it and sent it back. I was given an extra 200 dollars by an idiot bank teller, I was in a rush to catch a bus and didn't count my money, when I found out I had extra cash, I went back to the bank the next morning before class and returned it.

Let me tell you a story, Back when I was visiting my grandmother in Korea, we had a late night visitor rummaging in her storage area. My uncle and I, both being ex-gangsters, jumped the guy dragged him into the front yard and gave him a lashing no man should live through. After an hour of beatings, we let him rest, fed him and had him apologize to my grandmother on his knees. Afterwards we gave him some money and kicked him out, poor fella was lucky my grandmother felt sorry for him. By the way the bastard was armed with a kitchen knife, if my grandmother had been alone and went to investigate, who knows what would have been the outcome.

reply to post by DrChuck


You say you are an ex-gangster, but have a problem with petty stealing.... Wow, that is one I never heard before.

Originally posted by TKDRL
reply to post by DrChuck

 

You say you are an ex-gangster, but have a problem with petty stealing.... Wow, that is one I never heard before.

What makes you think my operations were in stealing? Believe it or not I conducted my businesses honestly as to avoid putting target on my forehead. Smooth transactions are the best transactions. The only problem was the legality of these transactions.

reply to post by DrChuck


Didn't say it was, gansters usually do a lot worse things than stealing. You know coercion, beatdowns, murder. All the gangsters I have known have not been the moral type, that's for sure.

if your starving and take some food, you are not stealing. you are surviving and believe it or not. the world is not fair so just cause you work hard an are smart does NOT mean you will get ahead. especially in todays society of favoritism.

reply to post by TKDRL


Nothing wrong with a good beatdown if one deserves it. Murder is just a part of that life, whether you like it or not. Although offing a civilian, unless their an informant is rather distasteful. Its an old life I left behind 10 years ago. Believe it or not these guys have a lot more morals than you'd think, their life depends on it.

Enjoyed the gangster story. It sort of makes the point though doesn't it? It's "ok" if it's within your "code", stealing has many codes and degrees of "wrongness".

What if the company you've been working for has been knowingly putting you in a health hazard year after year, giving you cancer, cutting your benefits and pay, disrespecting you at every turn, stealing from them probably isn't looked at the same as stealing from an honest mom & pop is it? Again, it depends.

There is such a thing as "Honor among thieves", I think dismissing any argument with a quick one-liner is intellectually lazy, and "at a boy" for the super goodies out there, wouldn't be the same without you.

Originally posted by Paschar0
Enjoyed the gangster story. It sort of makes the point though doesn't it? It's "ok" if it's within your "code", stealing has many codes and degrees of "wrongness".

What if the company you've been working for has been knowingly putting you in a health hazard year after year, giving you cancer, cutting your benefits and pay, disrespecting you at every turn, stealing from them probably isn't looked at the same as stealing from an honest mom & pop is it? Again, it depends.

There is such a thing as "Honor among thieves", I think dismissing any argument with a quick one-liner is intellectually lazy, and "at a boy" for the super goodies out there, wouldn't be the same without you.

No, I don't think there are any degrees of "wrongness" in stealing. I don't know what it is with me and stealing, I just abhor it. I'd rather a guy put a gun in my face and take what he pleases than to sneak in and take it without my knowledge, A robbery I can forgive, but a thief? NEVER. I can put a man (within reason) in the hospital without batting an eye, but I could never steal from him. It churns my guts just thinking about it.

I agree its wrong for a company or your employer to jeopardize your health, or disrespect you. But cutting pay and benefits? That depends on the financial state of the company, you seriously can't expect a company to go down in shambles trying to pay for benefits or sustain your salary. But even so, its not a reason to take what is not yours.

Workers who feel disrespected or decreasing health have every right to walk out and find another job. Nobody is forcing them to stay, certainly not the company. So, it must the situation that disallows the workers to leave their job, as they must have bills and mortgages to pay. And lets be honest here, is the financial burdens, and personal problems of the workers a company concern? No it is not.

reply to post by DrChuck


You seem to take stealing very personally and that's helping you take the side of anyone being stolen from it seems, I get it.

But eliminate all reasonable doubt and say you have a situation where "a company" knowingly and deliberately took advantage of an employee to an extreme. Because the mission of most corporations is to "make money" above all else, you can't help but run across this situation more and more, ask anyone that works for one of these monstrosities and they'll tell you it happens all the time.

So where is the line? It's different from person to person, but I think most of us hover around the same spot, and of course some swing from one extreme to the other too.

reply to post by Paschar0


Honestly, the only thing that would excuse it in my humble opinion is imminent starvation or death, for myself or my immediate family.

Anything less is lacking in moral fibre. There are much better, more honorable ways to live your life. There is no honor in thieving for the sake of thieving.

If a corporation is taking advantage of you, and I don't understand how this is done, we always have the option of quiting and looking for another job. That is the beauty of it, we are free to do as we please, perhaps one day ourselves becoming rich. Never accept any less than what you want in life.

Raging against a corporation you hate working for by doing things like stealing is petty and pathetic. Your life will never improve doing that. Get off your ass and do somthing you like, even if you have to work like a dog for said corporation just to save up to make your own, personal dream happen.

And yes, honor is subjective. But if there is one thing I will judge someone for, it would certainly be stealing for what appears to be spite and all the wrong reasons.

Corporations will rob people blind in numerous ways. This is exactly why you should NOT retaliate with stooping to their level. This is about principle. I do not consider not being able to repay a lender as theft unless they did not offer it or it was paid in labor.

Originally posted by incrediblelousminds

thats BEAUTIFUL

the rest of you guys are over conscious self righteous duds.

What is your definition of stealing?

In other words, are you stealing sugar packets and office supplies, (which the employer probably doesn't care about even if they knew), or are you stealing actual money from the register (which they would at minimum fire you for, if not prosecute you)?

How do you determine what to steal, and how to keep from being caught?

If you are stealing valuable stuff or money, and justify it being from a "faceless corporation", you may consider that affecting their profit margin may impact whether or not they give their employees raises or bonuses. Of course one could argue that you stealing a few bucks here and there isn't really making a dent in their huge budget, but if that were true, why would you feel a sense of accomplishment for doing it?

I only stole once from work. Some cheese Danish from my very first job while still a minor. It still bothers me to this day (37 years later). Unless one is a psychopath / sociopath I do not see how it is possible to be untroubled by such actions.

The only justification acceptable to me would be a situation where one acts as a whistleblower, as some have, anonymously releasing information of harmful intent or actions from such companies as Monsanto. Those I would honor as that is no doubt a highly dangerous thing to do.

At age 27 I worked for a large chain doing auto repair. The manager was telling us to do and sell unneeded repairs. I was the only one there that never did. The other mechanics did not want to but all said we have families to support and cannot afford to lose our jobs. Some used to be my friends until I found this out. I have few friends anymore. I only lasted a few months as even though I was not robbing customers it was a disgrace to work there.

About 90% of the jobs in the USA I will not do because they require lie/cheat/steal type actions or the company itself does such or causes other types of harm. If no one would work for Monsanto they would not exist.

All too many are quite willing to sell out for the almighty dollar. An even larger group is in various stages of ignorance of the harm caused by the company they work for.

Dr. Martian Luther King knew how to effect change. He supported a sanitation workers strike in Memphis and was prepared to help expand the strike to force change. I have no doubt this helped greatly to earn him a bullet with another patsy in place to take the fall.

Change for the better is possible but until the majority become educated on what is really happening and ethical enough to do what is right or we are doomed to the same screwed situation repeating itself generation after generation.

Steal from work and you become part of the problem not part of the solution. You have been trained into being a sociopath because that is rewarded currently on earth. You help perpetuate the status quo which is exactly what the PTB want. You have been played.

If those that know better continue such criminal conduct I begin to lose hope that humans could evolve into something better and wonder if we will end up as a footnote in the future as a life form too criminally insane to do anything other than cause their own extinction.

Are you helping humanity on the road up or the road down? Even minor actions can have much greater consequences in the future than most would imagine. Surviving or not is sometimes a very close thing. Do you really want to be the one that end’s the dream?

I don’t but it appears I am in the minority.

About 90% of the jobs in the USA I will not do because they require lie/cheat/steal type actions or the company itself does such or causes other types of harm. If no one would work for Monsanto they would not exist

Very true, and you make some good points on your post. Glad there are still a few good mechanics in the world. If people refused to work for these companies (no matter what the salary) and refused to buy their products or use theirs services then these companies would wither and die off. The world would be better for it.

BTW chess rocks, it's one of my favorite hobbies (Rated 1700 blitz).

reply to post by doctornamtab


Why is this even a question? Of course stealing from work and corporations is bad. Its bad for you.

I am all for undermining corporations. Dont use their services, dont buy their products. Protest them. Spread word of mouth about them. Drive them out of business in favor of smaller, locally owned businesses.

But stealing from someone bad isnt excusable. It just makes you just as bad as they are. Which is the real problem in the world.

The problem is not that there is some minority evil elite in charge running things. The problem is there is a majority evil lower class that morally and ethically is absolutely no different from the people in charge, and any attempt to eliminate the scum from the top of the pond fails because the scum from the bottom of the pond just floats right up to take its place.

You dont do the right thing because of what other people do. You do it because it is the right thing to do, and YOU are principled. Or not, as clearly is the case here.

reply to post by 4th horseman


Yeah and you arent the sharpest knife in the drawer if you think stealing from corporations really hurts them. They just pass the costs on via lower wages and benefits and higher prices, further deepening an already vicious cycle.

The only way to beat them is dont work for them. Dont buy from them. Dont do business with them at all, and dont vote for politicians that do them favors. And encourage everyone you know to do the same.