04-28-2003, 08:21 AM | #1 (permalink) |
Banned
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Ethics Question
My neighbor died. He had no relatives in North America. His relatives in Russia are not interested in his estate. He had no legal documentation showing legal title to the property he had lived on for years so the property will revert to the gov't to be resold. My ex neighbor did not have much for possesions (he was a doukohbor (look it up on google if you want to know more)) I was wandering around on the propory on the weekend and noticed some fencing materials and a few tools in the carport. I am currently fencing my 12 acres as I get the money to buy the materials.
How wrong would it be to use the fencing and aquire a couple shovels and a few other old unusual tools? |
04-28-2003, 08:25 AM | #3 (permalink) |
Super Agitator
Location: Just SW of Nowhere!!! In the good old US of A
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Let your conscience be your guide. If you honestly feel it belongs to no one then take it - If you don't someone else will.
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Life isn't always a bowl of cherries, sometimes it's more like a jar of Jalapenos --- what you say or do today might burn your ass tomorrow!!! |
04-28-2003, 08:26 AM | #5 (permalink) |
I run E.
Location: New York
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It's wrong, they're not yours. That said, you can do wrong things sometimes. It's a question of how bad you'll feel in the future and if you're screwing anyone over. If you won't feel guilt gnawing away at you and no one will notice or be mad, then do what you will, but know that, yes, it is immoral.
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I hold with those that favor fire. |
04-28-2003, 08:34 AM | #6 (permalink) |
I aim to misbehave!
Location: SW Oklahoma
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I agree that they are not yours, but.
If the estate reverts to the gov then what small part you have found will probably be treated as refuse and removed so that the property can be made salable. It's only you that will know if this is a proper thing to do or not, and only you will ever know if you took the items or not.
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04-28-2003, 08:44 AM | #8 (permalink) |
Cracking the Whip
Location: Sexymama's arms...
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I agree with the general consensus if things are like you say.
Stealing is wrong, but if the govt is just going to take everything and put the procedes in the general kitty, I would go ahead and take what you've mentioned. I'm sure your neighbor wouldn't have minded.
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"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate! |
04-28-2003, 08:47 AM | #9 (permalink) |
Invisible
Location: tentative, at best
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If you had the kind of conscience that would allow you to take them, you already would have.
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If you want to avoid 95% of internet spelling errors: "If your ridiculous pants are too loose, you're definitely going to lose them. Tell your two loser friends over there that they're going to lose theirs, too." It won't hurt your fashion sense, either. |
04-28-2003, 08:48 AM | #10 (permalink) | |
Insane
Location: Boone, NC
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Quote:
i would think that ethicly, it would be as right or wrong to take this stuff as it would be to keep something you found somewhere, after trying to find the owner, and then having the owner tell you they didn't care. the relatives have said they don't want it, so therefore the "owners" have said they don't want it... like if you found (for example) a tool someone had lost, but when you located the owner to give it back, they told you they didn't want it - it wouldn't then be wrong to keep it would it? (i hope that the rambling analogy above made sense) but regardless of what opinions i or anyone else here may have, it's your own feelings that are gonna count
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"Boy, I like that echo... goes right through my head... I had that happen once, but it was chemically induced...." - Steve Earle |
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04-28-2003, 09:00 AM | #11 (permalink) |
Guest
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Had a quick look at 'doukohbor' on google.
Doubt he would mind, given that these are things you want to use for their actual purpose, rather than just to have. Do you think he would have happily loaned them to you, where he still alive? Make a little 'In memory of' plaque for that section of fence. |
04-28-2003, 09:11 AM | #12 (permalink) |
Tilted
Location: British Columbia, Canada
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Here's my "tongue in cheek" response:
This situation reminds me of a commandment: Don't covet your neighbour's goods. Neighbour has passed on, can't covet a dead man's possessions (because you can't take it with you!) so the fencing material is up for grabs. This then reminds me of another catch-phrase: An eye for an eye. And another commandment: Don't steal. Mango, you list your location as B.C. Well, as a fellow Canadian, I can say catagorically that the Crietien government has wasted bucket-loads of hard-earned tax dollars - OUR tax dollars. Since the property is reverting back to the government, taking the fencing material won't be stealing from the government, it will be renewing some government waste! Seriously, most of the posters are asking you to follow your heart. Good advice. Whatever you do, just make sure that you sleep well at night no matter your decision.
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"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm. |
04-28-2003, 09:52 AM | #15 (permalink) |
Tilted Cat Head
Administrator
Location: Manhattan, NY
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if your conscience allows you to deal with it, then by all means. A plaque for the memory of the individual would be nice, and a donation to some charity in his name for the items would then make it "paid for" could also be something to consider.
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04-28-2003, 11:43 AM | #18 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: right behind you...
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if they are still unclaimed, use the tools, but OPENLY. make sure you are not caught 'stealing' them.
take care of the stuff and be easy. if anyone cries out, ask why and take it from there. as for concscience..... fuck it on this one. it is a crime against humanity to simply let tools go to waste when they can be used. |
04-28-2003, 11:50 AM | #19 (permalink) |
Indifferent to anti-matter
Location: Tucson, AZ
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Take the tools and use them. When the house is sold and someone moves in, offer them the tools telling them the whole story. Chances are, they will refuse your kind offer. If not, no problem, you aren't stealing, you're borrowing.
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If puns were sausages, this would be the wurst. |
04-28-2003, 01:47 PM | #21 (permalink) |
Crazy
Location: Florida
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Where you and your neighbor friends?...Do you think that he would mind if you took these things?...If you knew each other I don't see a problem with it...I wouldn't go crazy and empty his house though...lol.
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Mongo like candy |
04-28-2003, 05:53 PM | #22 (permalink) |
Naughty Just Right
Location: Euphoria
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Ah shit! I'm honest to a fault! I would feel guilty taking what isn't mine.
But if you don't have a problem with it, I guess do it.
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In the depth of winter, I finally learned that there was within me an invincible summer. ~Albert Camus |
04-29-2003, 03:59 AM | #26 (permalink) |
seeker
Location: home
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Ask your self this...........
Would he have given them to you, if he were alive?
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04-29-2003, 05:41 AM | #29 (permalink) |
Insane
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I'd take it. If no one is around to claim it then it's just going to waste. You don't wanna contribute to unneccesary waste in a disposable society do you? What's the big debate? Take it and USE it since the dude is DEAD, he can't use it anymore.
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Hey. Wasn't Me. |
04-29-2003, 05:55 AM | #31 (permalink) |
Go Ninja, Go Ninja Go!!
Location: IN, USA
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how do you know they don't want the estate or anything? My point to that is.. if you really feel guilty, find a way to ask them.
Also, if you do take it, I would suggest making something in his name.. especially if he was a good neighbor which i assume, cause if you hated him, you wouldn't be asking this question as the fence would already be up. heh I believe in an afterlife, and I think it would make him happy to know you were able to use what he cannot, and more importantly that you took it thinking of him.. and that as long as the fence has str.... you'll always remember him.
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04-29-2003, 08:29 AM | #32 (permalink) |
COMPLETED and A TRAINER
Location: BEAN_TOWN
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Are you really stealing? Isn't it true that the government was and is established by the people(citizens), for the people(citizens), and to help the people(citizens). And you are a (citizen), so, in part it is yours. at least part of it, right?
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04-29-2003, 08:38 AM | #33 (permalink) |
Addict
Location: Grey Britain
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Don't do it. It's not wrong, but if you're unsure about it now, it'll start to haunt you in a few years time.
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"No one was behaving from very Buddhist motives. Then, thought Pigsy, he was hardly a Buddha, nor was he a monkey. Presently, he was a pig spirit changed into a little girl pretending to be a little boy to be offered to a water monster. It was all very simple to a pig spirit." |
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ethics, question |
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