Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
To speak to the iPod example, it would be a karmic act to take it. The reasons could be many. Here is a quick list of a few possibilities: - The owner enjoys the iPod, and that would be taken away
- The owner had worked many hours to earn the money to buy it, and that would be lost
- The owner received it as a gift from a loved one and it has sentimental value to the owner
- The owner shares it with a loved one and would have to explain its disappearance
- The owner is actually a borrower and would lose the trust of the real owner
- The owner has unique recordings, photos, or other data that cannot be replaced and means much to them
- The owner, the host, and others would have to deal with the thought that a guest is a thief
- The owner may find it extremely difficult to trust others as much, especially strangers
- The owner might experience negative emotions that could affect those around them
- The thief would be breaking a law, trust, and common decency
- The thief may possibly need to continue a lie to remain secret
- The thief has obsessed over an item in an unhealthy way
- The thief might feel remorse but might be too ashamed to deal with it
There could be many more. As you can see there is a great number of ways that this act can cause misery to everyone involved, even the thief. This is the reason why the act is karmic. This would be a burden taken on by the thief, being the direct cause of the negative experience(s). |
It like this way of looking at it. All of these possible effects are counter-productive to created the world I've said I'd like to live in.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SecretMethod70
When you take that iPod, the next time you go to a party (especially with some of the same people) it's more likely that you'll be surrounded by people who are much more paranoid and skeptical of others than they may have otherwise been. On top of that, the person who lost their iPod may be made to feel more justified in doing the same to someone else. That only magnifies the effect. Whether you are caught or not, whether you feel guilt or not, the act of stealing has broader implications and effects on the world around you that will likely serve to make your own existence just a little less pleasing.
|
I think everyone has been in a social circle that has experienced this kind of drama. Someone suspects someone else to be guilty of something, and regardless of whether the suspicion is correct or not people take sides, the same group spots socializing together, and later people fondly recall the "good old days" when everyone still liked each other.
People sometimes refer to lying, cheating and stealing as being "the easy path." I disagree. If you live your life with honesty and integrety, life is actually easier and more fun. There's no reason to keep track of whom you told which lies in order to keep your stories straight. These's no stress about getting caught, and you never have to deal with consequences of getting caught.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by QuasiMondo
Stealing is stealing, is it not? If you're not going to stop at using an internet service that you are not paying for and that you don't have the subscriber's permission to use, why stop at using an iPod that you did not pay for and that you don't have the subscriber's permission to use? Besides, given enough piggybackers, it does slow up your connection, plus whatever illegal activity you do while on his network puts him at risk of running afoul of the law (pirated songs, child porn, it'll all get traced back to his IP and you can get away scott-free while he has to pony up for Johnny Cochrane).
You can't condemn one kind of theft while condoning the other just because you don't see the immediate implications for what you're doing.
|
"Stealing is stealing" is too simplistic. If no harm, inconveniance or extra expense comes to anyone, or if I am not violating any agreement I have made, then then there's little case to say what I'm doing is wrong.
Downloading childporn through a hacked network puts others at risk, and is therefore unethical. There are free public wireles networks out there, and there are private unsecured networks where the owner may not object to others using. If you have no indication that owner of the network doesn't want you to check your email through his network, then there's no harm, no foul.
If you have an invitation to someone's home for a part, there is implied permission to use their bathroom and use their toilet paper. You don't need to ask for explicit permission. There is no implied permission to take someones iPod without permission or notification. There's every reason to assume that would NOT be OK with the owner, and that taking the iPod would cause emotional and financial pain.