Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nah, thieves are scum. People don't steal cars and bikes to buy food, they do it because they're selfish and want a shortcut to get the things they want. In any first world country there are ways to get food without resorting to taking other peoples' possessions that they worked hard for. There are many people out there having a really hard time who would never even think about stealing because they were raised with…
It’s a matter of degree. We often put people in the position where they need to do some pretty terrible, degrading work just to eat. In my view as the alternatives you have get worse, it gets less morally questionable to steal. Furthermore, I think it should largely be evaluated by the harm it does to others, e.g. stealing a car from a sheltered rich person who can afford an uber in an emergency does them much less h…
In a free market, all transactions are voluntary. "Selfishness" just means that you only agree to a transaction if it benefits you. But the other party will only agree if it benefits them, so it's a win-win.
Thievery, OTOH, is not voluntary for the victim, and is, at best, a win-lose. Not at all the same as a free market transaction.