81–90 of 106 posts
But i still like the idea in a symbolic sense.
So, this isn't necessarily because of Sam Odio, but everyone's thinking it. And... duh. The take-a-penny, leave-a-penny trays only work when more pennies follow the rules than don't. If somebody comes along every day to empty out the tray — even if they're bringing it right across the street to the Salvation Army — they're going to take the trays away. That's just not what they're for , and if they're not working the…
> So, this isn't necessarily because of Sam Odio, but everyone's thinking it. Are you kidding me? Starbucks doesn't give a shit that someone was syphoning off money. A few hundred dollars is chump change to them. What they care about is the thousands of people "defrauding" their rewards program designed for use with a single customer. I'm sure their TOS restricts use to a single person as well.
"We think Jonathan’s project is really interesting and we are flattered he chose Starbucks for his social experiment."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
He's converting it because he doesn't think starving children in Africa have much use for a Starbucks gift card.
My point is that if he intends to give the money to starving children in Africa (or, really, to people who say that some percentage will end up being given to starving children...), the fact that money is money means that there's no reason not to do that at once. I'm not one of those willing to call what Odio did theft; it's merely rude and underhanded. But I do wonder if people who do business with him in the future…
He walked up to a pile of money just sitting their being used for a suboptimal purpose, and he took it and put it to good use.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I dont agree with that. If I stole a loaf of bread to feed my family, that is a very different ethical proposition to stealing a loaf of bread to feed some ducks. If I rob a bank and give the money to a family who desperately needs it, I am a very different person from the person who steals it to purchase a ferrari. Legally , there may be no difference. Ethically and morally there is a huge difference in my opinion.
You might be a different person if you steal for poor family and not for a ferrari, but not in the way I think you're implying. You would use the money differently, but still you would be a thief. Also, this behaviour doesn't scale. If everyone was allowed to steal bread because he/she is hungry, the whole trading system would probably collapse and make everyone hungry.
There is no use in condemning Odio unless you have a plan to fix the security hole he highlighted. Otherwise you are going to shutdown the open and honest takers and willfully ignore the quiet and dishonest takers.
A lesson taught by example. Great work.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sam literally did the opposite of contribute to the experiment. There is nothing he could have done which would be more disruptive. The "experiment" was to see if a system based purely on goodwill, like take-a-penny, leave-a-penny, can survive. And in fact, it largely can , as the growing popularity of Jonathan's Card showed. That there are people who will abuse the system does not excuse the people who abuse the sys…
> Are you likewise surprised by the fact that people don't like the guy who comes up to the bowl labeled "Free Candy" and takes all of the candy // Well it's like a guy coming up to a bowl of free candy in a place where everyone already has their pockets stuffed with candy, then going to some other place where people haven't got any candy and giving the candy to them. Oh and the kicker, the guy who took all the free…
What Sam did (we presume) in giving $500 to charity is noble. It would be much nobler if he had used his own money. What you and others are doing by rationalizing it is essentially saying that none of us has a right to any frivolity so long as there are people starving in the world, and taking things is okay as long as you give them to someone who needs them more. I got pickpocketed on the subway— but you know what, I was just gonna spend that $70 on a new pair of sneakers anyway, and I bet the thief needs new shoes much more than I do.
Which, really, has some validity to it. But that's a way, way larger social issue than the one at hand. If we grant, as we must, that it is okay for an American to drink coffee, what Sam did is a dick move.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Stealing a ton of money and then selling it on eBay is still wrong. If you rob a bank, does giving the money to charity make it right? If you shoplift a computer, does giving it to a poor family make it right? No, you still stole something you didn't own.
"If you rob a bank, does giving the money to charity make it right?" Well, there is the Robin Hood appeal that he only stole from the rich. Robin Hood (in the movies) gets away with that because the rich are also evil and due to the time difference, obviously not 'us'. In this case, I think the fact that he stole from people like 'us' is causing the problem. I think people would react differently if this card were he…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sam literally did the opposite of contribute to the experiment. There is nothing he could have done which would be more disruptive. The "experiment" was to see if a system based purely on goodwill, like take-a-penny, leave-a-penny, can survive. And in fact, it largely can , as the growing popularity of Jonathan's Card showed. That there are people who will abuse the system does not excuse the people who abuse the sys…
He wasn't the only one skimming money from the card he just got the most attention for it by publicizing what he did. You might even draw the parallel to a white hat who publicizes a vulnerability rather than quietly exploiting it for profit. edit: He did skim quite a lot to prove the concept. Maybe he was seriously considering that iPad.
"Hey man, you left your front door unlocked. Anyone could have done that."
I know. I leave my front door unlocked with the expectation that, in general, people won't. You're one of the bad guys.
"Hey, that's unfair. It's not like I'm profiting from it. I gave it to the Goodwill."
Next time you're feeling charitable, donate some of your own stuff. That's what I do. It's all the good feelings, without any of the stealing.