[questions]

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If you accept the premise that society is better off in the long run if everyone is trying to selfishly maximize their own gain, what argument can you make against criminal behavior, to those who are in situations where the "trickle down" effect does not figure to reach them in the forseeable future?

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I don't accept that premise. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

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Put another way, it seems to me that there are two reasons why poor people should not steal even if they are sure they will not get caught. One is that they are in a system that will have a good chance of elevating them to a greater degree than another system would. So they shouldn't be a party to disrupting it. The other would be if the system frowns on people who live in lavish luxury and do nothing to help the downtrodden.

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People don't think like that. Many (most?) people who steal are being opportunistic.

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But say you are in a miserable situation (especially if it is due to little fault of your own) and the architects of your economy say there is nothing wrong with someone owning diamond toilet seats if they can afford it. And go on to justify this stance with the explanation that most poor people will do better in such a system. Then if you are not likely to be one of the poor people who benefit, why not steal from the guy with the toilet seat if you can get away with it?

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Because the guy with the toilet seat probably isn't going to let you just take it from him, he's going to make it VERY DIFFICULT for you to steal that toilet seat from him. Protect it, like raising.