Am I a bad person?

[vfreire85@lemmy.ml]

you could be a kleptomaniac. i'd check out a psychiatrist if i were you.

[slazer2au@lemmy.world]

If the multi billion dollar company employees need food stamps to live. Steal away.

[slazer2au@lemmy.world]

Also, don't steal in your local area.

[corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca]

My sister started a pet store. Took her 1 year to plan it all out and get it lined up. And she opened.

Theft was a constant problem from day one. Kids would steal aquarium filters and similarly pointless stuff. She installed cameras. She reported them to the cops. Nothing fucking changed.

She bailed out after a few years when the lease came up, losing her shirt but not her house, and now manages a vet hospital owned by some vets. They have no end of customers but definitely a list.

Steal from a retailer like that makes it okay? Just fuck you.

[tetris11@lemmy.ml]

That's bad, I'd classify your sister under family-owner business. By retailer I really meant the large gargantuan ones that sell everything, I have to admit I never knew retailers extended to small business owners

[logos@sh.itjust.works]

I agree. You're letting your better nature take control, taking responsibility, and making amends.

You should be proud of that.

[communism@lemmy.ml]

Stealing is morally neutral, but can be a dick move if it's against individuals/results in the dispossession of something a person needs or cares about. But shoplifting/stealing from businesses is fine. They consider it inventory loss the same as if they dropped a bottle on the floor. It's written into their spending calculations and is an expected part of business. And quote unquote "small businesses" still had enough capital to start a business in the first place, and are ultimately insignificant anyway since the petit-bourgeoisie is doomed to forever either become big bourgeoisie or become proletarianised/unpropertied; proletarianisation is a progressive force and I'm not bothered if members of the petit-bourgeoisie become proletarianised, not that they will anyway purely from someone shoplifting lol.

Just follow the standard advice. Don't shit where you eat (don't shoplift somewhere you'd be upset if you got banned from) is the main one I adhere to. If you're only shoplifting small amounts I wouldn't worry about cops either, for small amounts they'll just ban you from the store, at least where I live idk about everywhere.

For individuals, I wouldn't steal from them if you care about your relationship with them. If they find out they'll probably be upset. If I found out someone stole from me I'd mostly be upset at the dishonesty. So it's good that you've been honest with your mom and are going to tell your brother. If it were me, I would be thinking, if you need something from me you could've just asked. Although it sounds like you're not stealing because it's something you particularly want or need, but just because you find stealing fun. In which case I would say just try to limit your stealing to shoplifting, or piracy if it scratches the same itch. Or steal from people you find particularly contemptible I guess.

[buddascrayon@lemmy.world]

I'd be careful about that. Walmart in particular is getting nasty about theft. Even in making a mistake at the self checkout they've ruined people's lives.

[hiddenlayer555@lemmy.ml]

If you’re only shoplifting small amounts I wouldn’t worry about cops either, for small amounts they’ll just ban you from the store, at least where I live idk about everywhere.

Beware. A lot of stories, namely large chain stores, are tracking people who shoplift with cameras and won't press charges until you've cumulatively stolen enough for it to qualify as a serious offence with jail time and permanent criminal record.

[dengalicious@lemmygrad.ml]

Kant would argue that you universalize all forms of theft by stealing so if we ever see stealing as immoral then it is wrong to do as it fails the metric of the application of the categorical imperative. I mean I don’t buy into Kantian morality but if one did he might make less of a distinction between them.