Mary Hickcox

I live in Costa Rica and the culture here is quite different then in the US in a lot of ways.  One way is in regards to theft.  It would  NEVER be even called theft for someone to grab some fruit out of your tree when passing by.  Many people steal to take care of themselves or others, it is not OK to me but here even judges will certainly let things slide by in the interest of feeding their children.  It is interesting because in some ways I like that people can get by just grabbing some fruit while on a walk, and because everyone here is OK with that they are more relaxed and there is certainly a better sense of community or a slight mentality of communal living.  On the other hand it seems a slippery slope and so children grow up and feel they have a need and see nothing wrong with stealing from others, so theft has become a big problem here.
Anyway, just giving another country's perspective.  I love living in another country:)

Mary mama to Dylan (10), Colin (6) and Theo Benjamin (2)
"Be who you want your children to be."    Unknown   "Each morning we are born again.  What we do today is what matters most."    Buddha

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."
    Denis Diderot






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

troubadour4me

on what level is stealing okay? What about technical info that is "stolen" to keep a country ahead of another or spying where info and data,words,plans and more are stolen to keep our country and others safe? Or our country being stolen from the native Americans?

Sandra Dodd

-=-on what level is stealing okay? -=-

Are you asking for a group consensus?
The answer is going to be different for each person and each
situation. Some people might say "never." Each person's answer will
be different.

-=-What about technical info that is "stolen" to keep a country ahead
of another or spying where info and data,words,plans and more are
stolen to keep our country and others safe?-=-

In Rumplestiltskin, did the queen steal Rumpelstiltskin's name? Did
her father steal her position in court?
Was Jack a big thief for stealing from the giant? Or was he
liberating enslaved magical beings? We don't get to know for sure.
Each person who hears those stories interprets them as people looking
at paintings or listening to music do.

-=- Or our country being stolen from the native Americans?-=-

Choosing the word "stolen" is what makes the difference in that. Was
England stolen by the Angle, Saxons and Jutes? Was Brazil stolen by
Portugal? Was New Mexico stolen by Spain? Mexico? The U.S.? Was
it stolen from someone else by the Pueblo Indians? Even they don't
know.

Sandra



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troubadour4me

no, I'm asking because i might have a conversation with my kid in the future when he knows these things and might ask why gathering info is okay but not taking something from a store. that's all. Just pondering.
--- In [email protected], Sandra Dodd <Sandra@...> wrote:
>
> -=-on what level is stealing okay? -=-
>
> Are you asking for a group consensus?
> The answer is going to be different for each person and each
> situation. Some people might say "never." Each person's answer will
> be different.
>
> -=-What about technical info that is "stolen" to keep a country ahead
> of another or spying where info and data,words,plans and more are
> stolen to keep our country and others safe?-=-
>
> In Rumplestiltskin, did the queen steal Rumpelstiltskin's name? Did
> her father steal her position in court?
> Was Jack a big thief for stealing from the giant? Or was he
> liberating enslaved magical beings? We don't get to know for sure.
> Each person who hears those stories interprets them as people looking
> at paintings or listening to music do.
>
> -=- Or our country being stolen from the native Americans?-=-
>
> Choosing the word "stolen" is what makes the difference in that. Was
> England stolen by the Angle, Saxons and Jutes? Was Brazil stolen by
> Portugal? Was New Mexico stolen by Spain? Mexico? The U.S.? Was
> it stolen from someone else by the Pueblo Indians? Even they don't
> know.
>
> Sandra
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>

Robyn L. Coburn

<<<< I'm asking because i might have a conversation with my kid in the
future when he knows these things and might ask why gathering info is okay
but not taking something from a store. >>>>

When you say "gathering info" I guess you are referring to the spying in the
prior post - the gathering of private information. I don't see that it is
always OK. I think that patent laws, privacy laws and copyright laws are in
place partly to make clear the point at which information gathering becomes
illegal such as industrial espionage.

In terms of international spying, I think the mitigating factor is the
assumption of malevolent intent, or the possibility of malevolent intent, on
the part of the other country's government. I suppose therefore it falls
under the rubrick of "self-defense". I don't think the assumption that the
local store or the hotel intends to harm its customers is at all reasonable.
It's all a bit muddy, and could at least make for some cool conversations.

I suppose it becomes even muddier when the issue is self preservation on a
personal scale. Many of the original European settlers in Australia,
convicts of the First and Second fleets, were transported because they were
convicted of poverty driven minor self preservation crimes like stealing
loaves of bread.

I don't think anyone ever said that being an unschooling parent conferred an
ability to know all the answers. Perhaps we inherently have a greater
interest in tangling with knotty questions.

Robyn L. Coburn
www.Iggyjingles.etsy.com
www.iggyjingles.blogspot.com
www.allthingsdoll.blogspot.com