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#1
06-07-2007, 06:47 PM
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Ethical question, stealing from a theif
Hypothetically speaking,
Assume for whatever reason you live with a untrustworthy roommate. One day you come to find out he was fired from his job but he does not tell you why. Now assume one day he leaves town for a few days and you have to get something out of his room that he borrowed, you enter his room and on the floor you see a open bag filled with all different kinds of bills and change, unsorted. Regardless of how you know, let's just say without a doubt you know that this money is stolen from his work and he must have been fired for the missing money. The way the money is scattered you also know without a doubt that he has no idea how much money is really in the bag and wouldn't notice if some of it was missing. You have an estimate of anywhere from $2000-$2500 in the bag. Let's say you have an evening out planned with your friends that night but are going to have to go to the ATM later. There is a hundred dollar bill sitting on top of the stack you could take and he would never notice. What do you do? In order to keep this an ethical question, let's assume the roommate is free and clear of any legal issues that may arise from the stolen money. Does the situation change if you know he will be moving out of the room shortly so you will never have to see him again? 
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#2
06-07-2007, 07:09 PM
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Re: Ethical question, stealing from a theif
You are effectively restealing from his former employer, who still is out that money. So the ethical thing to do is either leave it alone or rat him out, not try to justify taking the ill-gotten gains he currently possesses. However if you do hypocritically justify it to yourself to take a Franklin, then you might as well just take it all for the poetic "justice" of it.
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#5
06-08-2007, 12:18 AM
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Re: Ethical question, stealing from a theif
[ QUOTE ]
You are effectively restealing from his former employer, who still is out that money. So the ethical thing to do is either leave it alone or rat him out, not try to justify taking the ill-gotten gains he currently possesses. However if you do hypocritically justify it to yourself to take a Franklin, then you might as well just take it all for the poetic "justice" of it. [/ QUOTE ] If he were not legally free of the crime then I think you have just become an accessory after the fact unless you do something. The only way I can think of where he could be legally free is if he had been tried for the crime and aquited. In which case, you do not enjoy his immunity from double jepardy and I think could still be considered an accessory after the fact. Just on a legal basis you could be justified in returning the money to his former place of work. If he is legally immune to charges you're not putting him in any legal danger by doing this. But it might hurt his reputation if his roommate is seen returning the cash. So you could just return it annonymously. Put it in a bus locker and send them the key with a note. This will free you of legal danger but not of his wrath. Ethically, I might just mind my own business. I wouldn't steal from him though. PairTheBoard
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#7
06-10-2007, 03:39 PM
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Re: Ethical question, stealing from a theif
[ QUOTE ]
You are effectively restealing from his former employer, who still is out that money. So the ethical thing to do is either leave it alone or rat him out, not try to justify taking the ill-gotten gains he currently possesses. However if you do hypocritically justify it to yourself to take a Franklin, then you might as well just take it all for the poetic "justice" of it. [/ QUOTE ] snitching isn't the ethical thing to do
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#8
06-10-2007, 04:08 PM
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Re: Ethical question, stealing from a theif
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] You are effectively restealing from his former employer, who still is out that money. So the ethical thing to do is either leave it alone or rat him out, not try to justify taking the ill-gotten gains he currently possesses. However if you do hypocritically justify it to yourself to take a Franklin, then you might as well just take it all for the poetic "justice" of it. [/ QUOTE ] snitching isn't the ethical thing to do [/ QUOTE ] Why?
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#9
06-10-2007, 04:26 PM
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Re: Ethical question, stealing from a theif
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ] [ QUOTE ] You are effectively restealing from his former employer, who still is out that money. So the ethical thing to do is either leave it alone or rat him out, not try to justify taking the ill-gotten gains he currently possesses. However if you do hypocritically justify it to yourself to take a Franklin, then you might as well just take it all for the poetic "justice" of it. [/ QUOTE ] snitching isn't the ethical thing to do [/ QUOTE ] Why? [/ QUOTE ] Snitching is something that I generally don't believe in. It also is a bad idea because 1. You now identified yourself as a witness and may have to testify 2. You are setting yourself up for him to want revenge
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