Theft.

[apathy maybe]

'Theft' will occur in any economic system where a person has exclusive rights to an object. In the present capitalist system it can vary between minor shoplifters and armed bank robbing.
My question to you as leftists is, "Is theft acceptable under the current economic system?"
Points to consider are the variants of theft such as
a) minor theft such as shoplifting and pick pocketing
b) breaking and entering
c) armed robbery of a store or bank
d) armed robbery of a train or other transport
Also keep in mind such things as 'Robin Hood' type robberies.
Now what I would like to see are your honest opinions on wether theft is acceptable in today's society. If it isn't why not? If it is why?

I believe that your responses will be interesting and tell us all about how modern leftists think.

[Intifada]

as long as you are stealing from the rich and are not doing it for selfish reasons, i have no problem with theft.

[h&s]

Interesting....hmm....I had never thought about theft. I suppose Robin Hood theft is alright, but how do we know who to steal from?
As a Marxist I would say that if you have a good life already, theft is just a materialistic gain that is un-needed and just an extension of capitalistic attitudes.
Theft so that you can put food on your table and shoes on your feet is always justified, though.
Armed robery of a bank is interesting because banks are big evil capitalist organisations that deserve to be robbed, but doing this for personal gain would just be about as capitalist as you can get - I mean, who needs thousands and thousands of pounds from a bank? This would be wrong.
Armed robery of a train or something like that would also be wrong for the same reasons, but robbinbg a bank or train and giving the money to a leftist cause or a charity would be a good thing.
Hmm, interesting subject!:hammer:

[percept¡on]

They steal from me every day of my life and I have no problem stealing from them. It's not called 'theft', it's called 'get-back'. Stealing from your fellow oppressed brethren, however, is abhorrent and divisive and works in the oppressor's favor.

[apathy maybe]

I'm glad to see people are thinking about it. The post above (by perception) is interesting. What do others think on this?

The whole idea of stealling from the rich rather then the poor, is it justerfied even if you're doing it only for yourself?

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

The whole idea of stealling from the rich rather then the poor, is it justerfied even if you're doing it only for yourself?

Yes, you should still as much as possible from the rich without getting caught.

And apart from that, the rich have more things to steal. that's why they're rich.

[scrap metal]

The whole idea behind communism (one of them anyway) is for everyone to be equal; partially through havintg the same ammount of 'stuff'. So, if you ever want that to happen, it's your moral duty to try and help it along yourself by taking from thoser who have more than you and giving to those who have less than you.

Robin Hood was a wonderful communist ^_^

[Mike Fakelastname]

I think stealing from Wal-Mart is easily justifiable. In fact, the only reason I ever go to Wal-Mart is to steal stuff, I steal about 20$ worth of stuff, and buy a magazine or something to ease suspicion. Like perception said, they steal from us every day. I don't steal from any small, locally owned stores, only the big ones. I like to call it "Balancing the scales".

I suggest that everyone go to Borders/Barnes & Noble (don't steal from anywhere that's trying to compete with those two corporations, such as smaller bookstores) and steal yourself a copy of a book called "Steal This Book". A Yippie named Abbie Hoffman wrote it, you might have heard of him. Anyway, the book was written about 30 years ago, but it still has some shoplifting techniques that still apply, plus you'll learn how to completely fuck over the system. Like the Anarchist Cookbook, there's a section on how to build bombs and other weapons, but it's a whooooole lot better than the Anarchist Cookbook. Steal yourself a copy today!

[Subversive Pessimist]

I haven't seen a book called "steal this book".



I think stealing from Wal-Mart is easily justifiable. In fact, the only reason I ever go to Wal-Mart is to steal stuff, I steal about 20$ worth of stuff, and buy a magazine or something to ease suspicion. Like perception said, they steal from us every day. I don't steal from any small, locally owned stores, only the big ones. I like to call it "Balancing the scales".

I agree. But what if you get caught? I don't want to get caught. As far as I know, if you steal 20 dollars, those who work in the store have to work additional time so to pay back the loss, although they haven't done it. Do you know if this is correct?

If I steal anything, I take a candy and look into the face to the old lady in the check out counter, eat it slowly, while I have a big, evil smile on my face. It's so funny! :lol:

[Mike Fakelastname]

I haven't seen a book called "steal this book".

Look for it the next time you're in the Political Science section of a major bookstore.


I agree. But what if you get caught? I don't want to get caught. As far as I know, if you steal 20 dollars, those who work in the store have to work additional time so to pay back the loss, although they haven't done it. Do you know if this is correct?


Nah, I don't think that's correct. It means that the store has to order more, at the store's expense, not the employee's. And even if the employees were worked longer and harder because of it, and quit, I would consider THAT a victory also. Anything to motivate people into quitting their Wal-Mart jobs...


If I steal anything, I take a candy and look into the face to the old lady in the check out counter, eat it slowly, while I have a big, evil smile on my face. It's so funny! :lol:

Very revolutionary!

[h&s]

Robin Hood was a wonderful communist


I live in Nottingham, and unforunately Robin Hood (if he even existed) only stole from the rich because he used to be a rich landowner, and wanted to live the goods life again. The giving to the poor bit was just made up :(

Anyway, we should steal from the rich, but we shouldn't keep it for ourselves, otherwise we just turn into who we are stealing from.

[apathy maybe]

Steal this Book (and the Anarchist Cookbook) is avaliable on the web. It is a very good read. If you do a search you should turn up multiple copies (and if my computer was working I'ld grab my copy and put it up).

It is interesting that people seem to think that stealing from big companies is quite alright but not from small ones. Also it seems to be mainly focased on shoplifting. What do people think of robbing banks using computers (over the Internet)?

[Danton]

It depends on your motives and what you do with the stolen goods, it could easily be interpreted as expropriation if one was to distribute the goods among the needy or invest in revolutionary "material"..

[h&s]

Yeah, stealing with computers is good. If you could hack into a site like Barclycard's and take all of the rounded off VAT payments you could steal millions without anyone noticing, but then again you would have the problem of what to dowith it.

[Mike Fakelastname]

Originally posted by hammer&[email protected] 26 2004, 07:32 AM
Yeah, stealing with computers is good. If you could hack into a site like Barclycard's and take all of the rounded off VAT payments you could steal millions without anyone noticing, but then again you would have the problem of what to dowith it.
Heh, Office Space...

[Mike Fakelastname]

Originally posted by apathy [email protected] 26 2004, 05:30 AM
Steal this Book (and the Anarchist Cookbook) is avaliable on the web. It is a very good read. If you do a search you should turn up multiple copies (and if my computer was working I'ld grab my copy and put it up).

NO! Do NOT buy "Steal This Book". Steal it! Go to Barnes & Noble/wherever, open up the book to the shoplifting section, learn how to shoplift, and steal it! Abbie Hoffman did not intend to make any profits off of that book, he literally intended for people to steal it, and the profits that he did make were all donated to the Black Panther Party. Abbie's dead, if you buy that book you're only funding a corporation, no one benefits from your purchase.

[BuyOurEverything]

Steal This Book! (http://www.tenant.net/Community/steal/steal.html)

[truthaddict11]

Originally posted by Mike [email protected] 26 2004, 02:49 PM

NO! Do NOT buy "Steal This Book". Steal it! Go to Barnes & Noble/wherever, open up the book to the shoplifting section, learn how to shoplift, and steal it! Abbie Hoffman did not intend to make any profits off of that book, he literally intended for people to steal it, and the profits that he did make were all donated to the Black Panther Party. Abbie's dead, if you buy that book you're only funding a corporation, no one benefits from your purchase.
here is a better idea! support worker owned and run book presses and distributors like AKPress (http://AKpress.org) the subject manner is mainly Anarchist but they still have Marx and all those Che books you probally want. You wont find much, if any Leninist material though. I think they also offer other Abbie Hoffman books.

[Kaan]

some of the scams explained in steal this book wont work anymore, like stealing colthing, seeing as how most store now give you a tag with the number of items on it, and cameras, neither will the airline stuff (only read a little so far), but it is an interesting read. is there anywhere i can find a possibly more updated list of scams? I do know of www.buddyhead.com, which has some pretty good scams (not sure if the page is still up). Regardless, very entertaining book