I think people have to feel put out themselves before they "get it". It says something about the base nature of humans as they now stand. I remember as a kid bringing home something I found laying in the front yard of someone's home. When my father saw it, he stopped up short, and asked, "Where did you get that?" I answered, "I found it in someone's yard."
He got a long look on his face, said, "Did you buy it with your own money?" "no..." "Did someone give it to you as a gift?" "no....." "THEN PUT IT BACK! IT DOESN'T GOD D**NED BELONG TO YOU!" >From then on I used that as my measuring stick for what theft was. Thanks Dad >for making me feel pain. Bob On Sep 2, 2012, at 12:17 PM, Timothy Miller wrote: > When immoral behavior becomes common, profitable, and more or less anonymous, > it is no longer generally regarded as immoral. If the victim is distant > stranger, or an abstraction, like a corporation, the sense of immorality > diminishes further. > > When people find hundred dollar bills lying around outdoors, with no apparent > explanation, how many will turn the money over to authorities, pending > identification of the rightful owner? For that matter, how many of us would > do that? > > My 24 year old son has a normal conscience -- he is not mean or selfish in > other ways. He does not hesitate to download pirated music, he's got many > gigs of it, and he's figured out some way to download a pirated version of > almost any book he wants, to read on his Kindle. He would not hesitate to use > pirated software, though he doesn't know how. His conscience is entirely > silent on these topics. He thinks I'm weird because I prefer to pay for the > music I listen to. > > By comparison, I once tried to publish a commercial application and I'm the > author of a copyrighted book for which I received well-earned royalties. > > My son's behavior gives me pain. Yet he seems unable to conceive of the > possibility that his actions are immoral or harmful. He seems to think I am > an old-fashioned fuss-budget about copyrights. He is dismissive about the > possibility that authors might stop writing or musicians might stop > recording. Everyone he knows has the same point of view, except me and his > Mom. > > Meanwhile, maybe we should zoom out and look at the bigger picture. About > sixteen percent of the world's population consumes 80% of its resources. This > is not exactly fair, either. Are we all pirates, squabbling among ourselves > for a "fair" share of the loot? Maybe "fair" is an illusion, often > self-serving. > > Dukkha. > > Tim > _______________________________________________ > use-livecode mailing list > use-livecode@lists.runrev.com > Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription > preferences: > http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
