Is it wrong?

Better yet I will come there I have a hybird car--won't even take much gas to get there.

While living in Mexico, I saw poverty that is rarely seen in this country. Those of you who have traveled, I am sure , have seen it as well.


I saw seven year old boys working at construction sites.

Girls as young as 10 worked as live in maids for almost no pay, just to have a place to sleep and food to eat. (No such thing as minimum wage)

On a regular basis we'd have little kids who looked no older than six, with a younger toddler age sibling in tow, come to our door asking for handouts.

These little kids were surviving as they could, without stealing it seems, by begging or working.

Because they must work or beg or both just to survive, they don't go to school. Without an education, it is next to impossible to live outside of poverty in Mexico. So, the circle continues.

There is no Section 8 housing, no food stamps, no welfare, I guess there are no child labor laws ...

I saw mothers bathing their children in fountains in the public parks.

At a stop light, two little boys (about 5 and 7) would do "acrobatic tricks" and then go from car to car for change. Their acrobats were for the oldest to get down on his hands and knees on the hot road ... while the younger one stood on top of his back. Parents? Probably the mother was either working as a maid somewhere or in the plaza begging. Father? If around working as well somewhere for wages that would make minimum wage here look like a six figure income.

dtpollard wrote:

We have a modern day exaple of desperation os society breaking down in full public view with Hurricane katrina in New Orleans. I have been to some of the areas where the so called looting took place when people raided stores for food. Sure there were some opportunists taking other merchandise, but folks taking food to eat were lumped in with criminals. Everything in those stores was going to spoil and stranded people need food to survive after rightly expecting massive help from government resources since major interstate highways go through the heart of the city.

If we every saw a mass breakdown of society and what desperation will drive people to do, we had it there.

www.DTPollard.com

www.TARPTownusa.us

Under this theory, why not steal money from old people, their going to die anyway, and not spend it all.

A christian would not steal to save their life. Or, perhaps God is wrong.
If we make up or own rules , then there are no rules.

I remember many years ago, an out of work black man found a sack of money. He turned it over to the police...The newspapers and radio stations called him a fool. If it had been your money, would you have called him a fool? When is stealing justified? What kind of people have we become to say it's okay to steal?

In my opinion, there is something wrong with a society that would place a person in those dire straights. This country feeds the masses overseas, and granted, it may not be a feast. To have members of our society going without the food they need is the crime, not trying to feed your children by what ever means available.

There are those who abuse the welfare system, and there are those who are too proud to use what's available, Case in point, our local food bank turns no one away. A woman I know refuses to go there because she might see someone she knows! As far as I know she has not yet robbed or stolen food from anyone.

zadaconnaway wrote:

In my opinion, there is something wrong with a society that would place a person in those dire straights. This country feeds the masses overseas, and granted, it may not be a feast. To have members of our society going without the food they need is the crime, not trying to feed your children by what ever means available.

There are those who abuse the welfare system, and there are those who are too proud to use what's available, Case in point, our local food bank turns no one away. A woman I know refuses to go there because she might see someone she knows! As far as I know she has not yet robbed or stolen food from anyone.

True!

We are all in agreement --we would not let the children be hungry

None of us has said we would starve to death ourselves. I will trust you all to figure out what to do.

I am still going to church and get the hot meal. The churches will still be there.

Will it be okay for people to steal if we are in a depression? I came out of a depression. 25% of the work force was out of work. Many families lived in tents. Most times my sister and I went to bed hungry. For breakfast we got a slice of bread with warm water and some sugar on it. My parents did not steal. People today feel it's the duty of the government to feed them. It is not. People who steal anything, are criminals. The theory of those who say it's okay to steal if you are hungry, should have laws passed..."If you are homeless and hungry, it is okay to steal from anyone."

domenic Pappalardo wrote:

To be a thief or die true to yourself? Anyone can say, "I will be true to myself." You will not know your grit until that time comes. I know, I am certain, I will die before I eat human flesh. But, will the madness of hunger be stronger then how I have trained myself?
Perhaps just an ear my dear...you have two.

Was this a joke?

I'd steal food before I ate someone's ear. I am a finicky eater.

Thanks, Alice. I actually replaced the roll of toilet paper the next time I purchased t.p. for my home.

I consider myself lucky to be able to pay my bills. At one point I was encouraged to go on disability (back when I was on oxygen 24/7 and had difficulty climbing my apartment stairs). I didn't want to because I was capable of working (just in a different way) and knew (hoped) I would get better with the passing of every day (I did!).

Don, I know you were speaking about the general scenario presented. I just never realized it was so easy to be so close to being out on the street when you're working a full-time job. One major illness and whammo! The whole world can change.

Domenic, it seems to me that one of the first things Christians would do is not judge their brothers and sister, rather give them a hand up (not a hand out).

domenic Pappalardo wrote:

Will it be okay for people to steal if we are in a depression? I came out of a depression. 25% of the work force was out of work. Many families lived in tents. Most times my sister and I went to bed hungry. For breakfast we got a slice of bread with warm water and some sugar on it. My parents did not steal. People today feel it's the duty of the government to feed them. It is not. People who steal anything, are criminals. The theory of those who say it's okay to steal if you are hungry, should have laws passed..."If you are homeless and hungry, it is okay to steal from anyone."

Where did they get the bread?

Domenic,

You are quite correct when you state it is not the duty of the government to feed you. However the government has taken over and messed us up until some cannot feed themselves.

Many people are destitute because of a major illness.
Drugs are costly. Medical insurance is costly.

You asked if it would be okay to steal from the old people--my answer is steal enough to bury them.

We had to round up $5,000.00 to lay my father-in-law to rest recently.

According to the comments here, it is generally agreed that stealing for survival is acceptable.

Another hypothetical question.

Your family has lived in the same house for generations. Armed men force you to leave. If you resist, you will be shot. They take over your house and your possessions. There is no authority that will help you recover your losses. What would you do?

Start over--build a beautful new house!

Rejoice that I am alive.

I'd leave. No material possession is worth my life or the lives of my family.

Burn it down around them! Seriously though, isn't that why people in this country have guns?

Merri and Zada,

I am going to bed--sleep tight.

A Government by the people, for the people.
It was the people who gave the government power to screw it up. Now it is:
A people for the Government, by the Government.

I agree Alice...it is a mess. There is no Government on this earth who can fix it. It is not going to get any better. The worst is yet to come...listen what people are saying..."It's okay to be lawless if you are hungry?"

I heard John Kennedy when he said, "Don't ask your country what your country can do for you, but ask, what can you do for my country."

Sleep well, Alice. I'm about to talk with the Sandman myself.

Good night Alice. Lock your doors and windows...there are hungry people out there.

I somehow have a feeling that if Alice were confronted with hungry people at her door, she would either feed them or send them on their way with some provisions. Maybe she'd do both. She might even take them to church for a meal!

Sleep well, all you sleepy heads!

Don, it brought to mind a story you wrote.

Abe F. March wrote:

According to the comments here, it is generally agreed that stealing for survival is acceptable.

Another hypothetical question.

Your family has lived in the same house for generations. Armed men force you to leave. If you resist, you will be shot. They take over your house and your possessions. There is no authority that will help you recover your losses. What would you do?

Separate and conquer. Guerilla warfare is mandated in this situation. If armed men broke in and removed me from my house and there was no law enforcement around to correct the situation it would mean society as a whole had broken down. Survival of the fittest is the new order.

Abe F. March wrote:

Another hypothetical question.

Your family has lived in the same house for generations. Armed men force you to leave. If you resist, you will be shot. They take over your house and your possessions. There is no authority that will help you recover your losses. What would you do?

If every human being looked to the stars and realised its place in the universe with a heartfelt intimacy (and not with cartoonish laughter), a certain inner compassion would result that would then alleviate conflicts such as this.

Perhaps a new celestial light now beckons to take us all to a higher level of consciousness? There are some out there that believe this to be so.