| Would you commit a petty crime if you knew you could get away with it? |
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Asked 2 years ago
by maxholloway  United Kingdom |
12 Points
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i'll say yes, but it definitely depends on the crime - motivation
A petty crime is like stealing some sweets, J-walking (in the states) running a red when no-ones around etc..
Wow there are a lot of liars on here!
How many of you that said no have stolen road signs etc when out on the beers?
Okay, in this country the stealing is a petty theft--a misdemeanor, but the other two are infractions. Although technically I guess you could call an infraction a crime, they are handled very differently. For an infraction, you don't even need to appear. Usually you can just mail the check for the fine and be done.
And personally, I don't observe laws I think I are evil and wrong.
Anarchist, huh?
I have stolen pens and pencils before. It doesn't even feel like a crime.
I once bought office supplies for home, the boss saw me with them (they were still in the shopping bag from the store) on my way out and told me it would have been ok if I had taken them from the supply room. I told him the same I would tell him today, I couldn't just take it as it feels wrong to me, but I am not judging others who might have done differently. I do go faster then the speed limit, but when I obey the speed limit people got rather irritated. (Drivers here go about 10 - 15 km/h over the limit)
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[-5 points] 2 years ago by deleted user ReplyNot anymore. I'm more mature than that now.
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[-8 points] 2 years ago by deleted user ReplyThanks! It just doesn't do anything for me anymore. Besides, nowadays, I would feel guilty. I wasn't always of this opinion. I once went to an exclusive prep school (full of rich kids whose parents were much richer than mine) and the after-school "sport" was seeing who could rip off the most from a local mall. It took me a long time to realize it wasn't really rational to tell yourself you were just getting your due because stores charged much higher prices to compensate for shoplifting so by stealing you were getting back some of the money you had paid in higher prices for what you were doing.
I know now that that rational is crazy, but for a long time I used that "reasoning" to convince myself that what I was doing was okay.
Also, I realize now that as grownups those kids are probably the ones who probably did more than their share, as grownups, to help bankrupt America.
The obvious answer for everyone is yes, depending on how "petty crime" is defined. It is probably technically impossible to go through life without breaking some law and therefore committing some crime. Speeding, failure to yield, not reporting all out of state purchases on your tax return so sales tax can be collected, etc... Also if the benefit from breaking the law was high enough or seemed justified, then most would break the law. (EX: speeding in order to get help for someone who is injured, or breaking in to a house to rescue someone from a house fire.)
But if committing a petty crime is defined as breaking a law/rule/regulation you know about, which had a small punishment and you believe to be wrong to break, then you are going to get people going both ways. And I think that is how most people here are interpreting the question. Most would not necessarily realized or consider J-walling a petty crime. (And in fact in much of the US is not.)