Persuasive Essay About Theft

Theft is widely regarded as one of the most morally unjust crimes to commit. Stealing is prohibited in almost every nation around the world and also forbidden in one of the most influential writings of all time; The Bible. Almost everyone can agree that stealing is frowned upon and morally wrong; however, often times stealing can be a product to a deeper problem. Thieves all have some reason to steal, to them whatever is worth stealing is more important than making the morally correct decision. This ethical flaw is a personal issue and not something that negatively affects me in that situation. Therefore, in the case of witnessing a young mother stealing, I would not report the mother to store security because selfishly speaking, her actions

Laws try to capture the ‘Do’s and Dont’s ' of that specific nation. Each country has a different culture that creates a completely different set of ideals and principles. Therefore, laws are not universal to everyone and are extremely arbitrary. Similarly, religion is separate from ethics because religions give you some guidelines to live by, but they can be very contradicting and outdated. For instance, a common belief written thousands of years ago would not apply to today’s society. After realizing the differences of ethics to religion and laws we can begin to admit to ourselves that stealing is wrong in almost every ethical situation. However, people are not always morally correct. Contrary to popular belief, people are rarely morally strong. For example, as Nietzsche says, about 95% of people are followers; people with deer in the headlights expressions. The remaining 5% are strong-willed leaders. This is a concept that my father has instilled in me my entire life; he is passionate on the topic of being a leader, rather than a common follower. Although in the occasion of witnessing a young, clearly struggling mother steal for food, I believe that most people, including myself, would not report her. This is due to the fact that people are “sheep” who do what they are told when told; but also because we are inherently self-interested. I strive to be a leader in

However, I would argue that it is not our responsibility to report the mother because we are not involved and not affected by her act of stealing. If that struggling mother wants to steal in order to feed her family, she may do so in my eyes because I am not promoting or prohibiting any of her actions. I may be bystander and witness of the crime but honestly, I could care less because my own self-interest is not harmed in any way. I believe that the reason for this is because we are all hardwired at birth to act in our own self-interest. That is the whole concept of psychological egoism, that everything we do is always meant to benefit ourselves in the end result. The mother is blatantly ignoring the moral perception of stealing in order to do what is best for her and her family by stealing food. This is her own personal decision to act in her own self-interest. Selfishly speaking, I am neutral on her decision to steal because she is simply doing what is best for her in that