\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kind4life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/brazil_apple_store-1024x683.jpg\")
In a free societies, people either make things of value (“stuff”), or trade them, to mutual advantage, and by voluntary consent.<\/p>\n
For example, you bought the phone you use every day because you decided it would provide you with the best combination of features and value that you could afford, or were willing to spend on it. The same principle applies to the cell service to which your phone is connected, the home in which you live, the car you drive, and all the hundreds of other things (“stuff”) that you obtained from others, in exchange for either your money, or your labor, as in a barter situation.<\/p>\n
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How does “stuff” come into existence, though?\u00a0 Only through <\/strong>human creativity, and physical labor.
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kind4life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/mikaila-ulmer-shark-tank-lemonade.jpg\")
11-year-old Mikaila Ulmer,<\/strong> who won a contract with Whole Foods to sell her “BeeSweet Lemonade.”\u00a0 Read about her here<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAll of the “stuff” you obtain first had to be created or acquired by someone else, or an group of people, such as a business, or a corporation. That person or group invested their time, creativity and money to invent, or build it — or to trade their money or “stuff” with others.<\/p>\n
In each step of the process, all the transactions necessary to create and trade this “stuff” were conducted voluntarily, and everyone has been (or in the case of a loan, is being) paid in full, according to terms that were defined and agreed to, in advance.<\/p>\n
This is the nature of freedom, as applied to economics.\u00a0 It is known as the free market (or capitalism),<\/strong> and it can only operate under laws that protect both the property that one creates, and acquires through voluntary trade.<\/p>\n(There are, however, exceptions to this rule, as in the cases of land, airwaves, and other physical phenomena which require a larger and more complex discussion, but one in which the same principles apply. For now, let us focus only on human-created “stuff.”)<\/p>\n
\nThe opposite of this principle: <\/strong>Taking other people’s “stuff” through force, or deception
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kind4life.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/weopopw1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Since the first “stuff” was created by human hands, however, there have been those who saw something that someone else possessed, and which they wanted — but which they were unwilling to try to obtain through trade and voluntary consent. So, instead they sought to obtain it through the actual or threatened use of force, blackmail\/extortion, or deception.\u00a0 Let us examine each:<\/p>\n
Force:<\/strong> This generally means that you threaten to physically harm the person (or organization) if they don’t give you what you want. This could mean robbing a bank, or a person on the street.<\/p>\nBlackmail\/extortion:<\/strong> This involves threatening to publicize something, either real or fraudulent, that would harm the victim’s reputation, or put him or her in legal jeopardy, and is sufficiently serious that it would compel them to give up the “stuff” that the blackmailer demands.<\/p>\nDeception:<\/strong> This generally means earning the trust of the person or organization that possesses the “stuff” you want, either by going to work for them, in an employment or service capacity (such as a financial adviser, or auto mechanic). Then, once you are in that position, you take the “stuff” you want, in either small or large portions, in the hopes that you will not get caught.<\/p>\n
\nWhether you take other people’s stuff by yourself, or if you’re part of a collective, or if you hire someone to do it for you, it’s still a crime<\/strong><\/h4>\nIt does not matter whether you do take other people’s “stuff” by yourself, or in conjunction with others. Nor does it matter if you believe that because you (or any group to which you belong) have been treated unjustly in the past, and therefore are entitled to take “stuff” from people or organizations who had nothing to do with it, to balance the scales.<\/p>\n
Nor does it matter if you hire a third party to take other people’s “stuff” on behalf of you, or the group to which you belong. All this means is that you were unwilling or unable, to personally engage in<\/em> the violence or deception that was required to take the “stuff” you desired.<\/p>\nThis is true even if the third party is the government, and that you help elect candidates and support laws that will take the “stuff” that you want, from its rightful owner(s), and give it to you, or to those in your group.\u00a0 Throughout time, this practice has been called “legal plunder” — which, as the French economist Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat<\/strong> explained in his seminal book, The Law<\/a>,<\/strong> <\/em>is still theft:<\/p>\n\u201cHow is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\nMake no mistake: anyone who owns the “stuff” you want, but who refuses to comply with a law ordering them to give it to you or your group, faces the threat or actual use of violence — ironically, by the very government whose supposed mission is to uphold justice. This violence may take the form of imprisonment, or physical harm, if your victim does not go along willingly.<\/p>\n
\nThe shockingly high level of acceptance of stealing in our culture, particularly among the young<\/h4>\n
Recent surveys indicate that stealing is steadily going mainstream:<\/p>\n
1 in 6 Young Americans Have Stolen Something in the Past Year, Study Finds<\/a>,<\/strong> by Tanya Basu, Time,<\/em> October 12, 2015. Excerpt:<\/p>\n“A new study tracking teens and young adults finds that stealing is quite common: about 1 in 6 report having swiped something in the past year.<\/strong> The study, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization,<\/em> found that for most of these young thieves stealing is just a temporary phase, likely because they decide the risks outweigh the benefits.”<\/p>\nStealing Among High School Students: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates<\/a>,<\/strong> by Jon E. Grant, Marc N. Potenza, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Dana A. Cavallo and Rani A. Desai, Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online,<\/em> February 2011.\u00a0 Excerpt:<\/p>\n“[S]tealing among adolescents appears to be fairly common […]<\/strong> the overall prevalence of stealing was 15.2 percent.” <\/strong><\/p>\nJosephson Institute of Ethics Releases Study on High School Character and Adult Conduct<\/a>,<\/strong> [as reported in Christian Headlines.com<\/a>] October 29, 2009. Excerpt:<\/p>\n“Thirty percent of those surveyed admitted stealing from a store within the past year.\u201d<\/strong> Contrary to what you might expect, girls were not significantly less likely to steal than boys\u201426 percent versus 35 percent.\u00a0 […] 23 percent admitted to stealing from a parent or relative, and 20 percent acknowledged to stealing from a friend.”<\/strong><\/p>\nAnd given the collapse of ethics education in our schools, and the corrupting influence of many movies, TV shows and music targeting teens, by the time they grow up, these beliefs become more ingrained — and are causing widespread harm, cost and cynicism:<\/p>\n
Identity theft hit an all-time high in 2016<\/a>,<\/strong> by Bob Sullivan, USA Today,<\/em> February 6, 2017.<\/p>\nIdentity theft, fraud cost consumers more than $16 billion<\/a>,<\/strong> by Kelli B. Grant, CNBC.com, February 1, 2017.<\/p>\n
All of the “stuff” you obtain first had to be created or acquired by someone else, or an group of people, such as a business, or a corporation. That person or group invested their time, creativity and money to invent, or build it — or to trade their money or “stuff” with others.<\/p>\n
In each step of the process, all the transactions necessary to create and trade this “stuff” were conducted voluntarily, and everyone has been (or in the case of a loan, is being) paid in full, according to terms that were defined and agreed to, in advance.<\/p>\n
This is the nature of freedom, as applied to economics.\u00a0 It is known as the free market (or capitalism),<\/strong> and it can only operate under laws that protect both the property that one creates, and acquires through voluntary trade.<\/p>\n (There are, however, exceptions to this rule, as in the cases of land, airwaves, and other physical phenomena which require a larger and more complex discussion, but one in which the same principles apply. For now, let us focus only on human-created “stuff.”)<\/p>\n Since the first “stuff” was created by human hands, however, there have been those who saw something that someone else possessed, and which they wanted — but which they were unwilling to try to obtain through trade and voluntary consent. So, instead they sought to obtain it through the actual or threatened use of force, blackmail\/extortion, or deception.\u00a0 Let us examine each:<\/p>\n Force:<\/strong> This generally means that you threaten to physically harm the person (or organization) if they don’t give you what you want. This could mean robbing a bank, or a person on the street.<\/p>\n Blackmail\/extortion:<\/strong> This involves threatening to publicize something, either real or fraudulent, that would harm the victim’s reputation, or put him or her in legal jeopardy, and is sufficiently serious that it would compel them to give up the “stuff” that the blackmailer demands.<\/p>\n Deception:<\/strong> This generally means earning the trust of the person or organization that possesses the “stuff” you want, either by going to work for them, in an employment or service capacity (such as a financial adviser, or auto mechanic). Then, once you are in that position, you take the “stuff” you want, in either small or large portions, in the hopes that you will not get caught.<\/p>\n It does not matter whether you do take other people’s “stuff” by yourself, or in conjunction with others. Nor does it matter if you believe that because you (or any group to which you belong) have been treated unjustly in the past, and therefore are entitled to take “stuff” from people or organizations who had nothing to do with it, to balance the scales.<\/p>\n Nor does it matter if you hire a third party to take other people’s “stuff” on behalf of you, or the group to which you belong. All this means is that you were unwilling or unable, to personally engage in<\/em> the violence or deception that was required to take the “stuff” you desired.<\/p>\n This is true even if the third party is the government, and that you help elect candidates and support laws that will take the “stuff” that you want, from its rightful owner(s), and give it to you, or to those in your group.\u00a0 Throughout time, this practice has been called “legal plunder” — which, as the French economist Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bastiat<\/strong> explained in his seminal book, The Law<\/a>,<\/strong> <\/em>is still theft:<\/p>\n \u201cHow is this legal plunder to be identified? Quite simply. See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n Make no mistake: anyone who owns the “stuff” you want, but who refuses to comply with a law ordering them to give it to you or your group, faces the threat or actual use of violence — ironically, by the very government whose supposed mission is to uphold justice. This violence may take the form of imprisonment, or physical harm, if your victim does not go along willingly.<\/p>\n Recent surveys indicate that stealing is steadily going mainstream:<\/p>\n 1 in 6 Young Americans Have Stolen Something in the Past Year, Study Finds<\/a>,<\/strong> by Tanya Basu, Time,<\/em> October 12, 2015. Excerpt:<\/p>\n “A new study tracking teens and young adults finds that stealing is quite common: about 1 in 6 report having swiped something in the past year.<\/strong> The study, published in the Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization,<\/em> found that for most of these young thieves stealing is just a temporary phase, likely because they decide the risks outweigh the benefits.”<\/p>\n Stealing Among High School Students: Prevalence and Clinical Correlates<\/a>,<\/strong> by Jon E. Grant, Marc N. Potenza, Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, Dana A. Cavallo and Rani A. Desai, Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online,<\/em> February 2011.\u00a0 Excerpt:<\/p>\n “[S]tealing among adolescents appears to be fairly common […]<\/strong> the overall prevalence of stealing was 15.2 percent.” <\/strong><\/p>\n Josephson Institute of Ethics Releases Study on High School Character and Adult Conduct<\/a>,<\/strong> [as reported in Christian Headlines.com<\/a>] October 29, 2009. Excerpt:<\/p>\n “Thirty percent of those surveyed admitted stealing from a store within the past year.\u201d<\/strong> Contrary to what you might expect, girls were not significantly less likely to steal than boys\u201426 percent versus 35 percent.\u00a0 […] 23 percent admitted to stealing from a parent or relative, and 20 percent acknowledged to stealing from a friend.”<\/strong><\/p>\n And given the collapse of ethics education in our schools, and the corrupting influence of many movies, TV shows and music targeting teens, by the time they grow up, these beliefs become more ingrained — and are causing widespread harm, cost and cynicism:<\/p>\n Identity theft hit an all-time high in 2016<\/a>,<\/strong> by Bob Sullivan, USA Today,<\/em> February 6, 2017.<\/p>\n Identity theft, fraud cost consumers more than $16 billion<\/a>,<\/strong> by Kelli B. Grant, CNBC.com, February 1, 2017.<\/p>\n
\nThe opposite of this principle: <\/strong>Taking other people’s “stuff” through force, or deception
\n<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
\nWhether you take other people’s stuff by yourself, or if you’re part of a collective, or if you hire someone to do it for you, it’s still a crime<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\nThe shockingly high level of acceptance of stealing in our culture, particularly among the young<\/h4>\n