comment by wasoxygen

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wasoxygen · 4044 days ago · link · · parent · post: "If a rich person has something you need, you should take it."

I found your response a bit cryptic. I like cryptic, but I may not have parsed it well. May I try again?

If being right was enough, everything would be so much easier. If being right (i.e. behaving ethically and not stealing) was enough (to ... what? live comfortably?), everything would be so much easier (than having to game the system to overcome unfairness due to the system being rigged).

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mk · 4044 days ago · link ·

I meant that if being in the right does not mean that stealing is the best course of action.

It's a flaw in so many arguments. Justification for the ends does not mean justification for the means. Without both, your actions are creating another unjust system.

+discuss+discuss

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wasoxygen · 4044 days ago · link ·

Okay. Would you endorse the following statment then?

"It's okay to steal, as long as it's from a rich person. However, stealing may not be the best course of action."

+discuss+discuss

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mk · 4044 days ago · link ·

No. Not at all.

Stealing is more than a physical act, it is a powerful statement. My point is, justifying the motivation for theft does not justify the theft.

+discuss+discuss

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wasoxygen · 4044 days ago · link ·

Got it, thanks.

I like your aphorisms, especially "justification for the ends does not mean justification for the means." Now I feel kind of bad about making you boil them down into simple truisms.