Theft is malum in se. No amount of philosophical meandering is going to change that issue.
There might be circumstances where the act of taking possession is ambiguous (say, a question of abandonment, or of colour of right). There might be circumstances where the wrongful act is excused or justified. But neither of these change the wrongful nature of converting the property of another person to one's own use.
However, it does not take Victor Hugo to realize that there is a straight line between poverty and property crime. When we take away access to food, clothing and shelter and when we put barriers in the way to accessing benefits like welfare we cannot be surprised when property crime rises in turn.
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--James
30 Jul 2011, 5:56 pm
