My Cat Question

[chezlaw]

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And what on Earth makes you think that this is in any way a math problem?

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You've been slipping lately. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

chez

[FortunaMaximus]

Adopt the cat. Dilemma solved. Moral and financial.

[bkholdem]

What kind of acts would I have to do to steal it? Breaking and entering or do I get to see the cat in the woods taking a nap where no one is watching? Can I know with certainty ahead of time that I will never be found out? Also who owns the cat and what is likely to happen to the necklace after it dies? I think I would have to be pretty desperate to do it nonetheless.

p.s. I have returned money (~$100) to a store when given incorrect change before on more than one occassion where I would not be discovered so am very strongly opposed to stealing or keeping something that is not mine if I know who owns it. I think I would however keep money if it was in a paper bag on the sidewalk with no identifying information even if it was a very large sum of money, maybe even especially if it was a very large sum, rationalizing that the person who lost it was criminal or rich so didn't 'need' or 'deserve' it.

I would return it if it became known to me who owned it though even if I was the only one who knew I had found the money and would not be discovered if i just kept it and said nothing.

[JimNashe]

I'd steal the cat and the necklace, sell the necklace and keep the money. All the while providing a good life for the cat.

[Scary_Tiger]

I'd steal the kitty's necklace, unless I was so absurdly rich that the money meant nothing to me.

[Bataglin]

I'd trade with the cat: a ping-pong ball for the necklace. Sounds like a good deal for both of us.

[DougShrapnel]

Deleted

[Borodog]

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Who owns the cat?

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[ChrisV]

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I've decided to repeat a question I left at the bottom of another thread.

An eccentric old lady leaves a $100,000 diamond necklace to her pet cat to play with after she is gone. Assuming that if you steal it, you will use the money for personal gain for you and your family, how bad off would you have to be for to make it right?

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Frankly, I'd steal it for no good reason at all. The old lady is dead and her opinions don't matter anymore. The cat does not have the right to own property. I'm not hurting anyone who is alive.

If the old lady had family, though, I would be obligated to give the money to them. And if she didn't, I would give a portion of the money to charity.

To clarify, the necklace would belong to her family in the same way that anything would in the absence of a will. If she has no family, then the necklace has no owner and is mine in the same way that a gold nugget I found in a river would be. Any proceeds I give to charity is purely out of the goodness of my heart.

[David Sklansky]

"The old lady is dead and her opinions don't matter anymore."

Really. Her will shouldn't be honored?