A Moral Quandary

[Swagger]

I'm not in any way involved in this series of events, and have no say in the outcome, but although I think their actions were a little extreme - though influenced, so I'm told, by alcohol and frustration (a deadly mix) - I can't help but sympathise with the perpetraters, to a degree.

Last night two of the men working on the housing project I'm contracting on were having an after work drink in a pub nearby the work site. During the course of the evening they came into contact with a man who's a known benefit/welfare cheat. He knows the 'system' like the back of his hand, and, so we've all been told, has been playing said system like a fiddle for many years now. Apparently he was loudly inferring the futility of working for a living when you can make a better living making false benefit/welfare claims. The two fellows in question decided to take him to task and underscore the negative consequences people like him have on society as a whole. He dismissed their affront with equal derision. They decided to take action. They followed him on his way home and (forcibly) relieved him of the welfare payment he'd received that day.

Being a firm believer in personal responsibility and paying your way in life; not to mention the way the worldwide economy stands, I can't but privately applaud the actions of the two men involved. Even though what they did is technically theft, the money they reclaimed was made by deception in the first place.

What are your thoughts on this? Bearing in mind the 'victim' has a family to provide for.

 

[Mr. H.]

They did what your government obviously failed to do.

 

[del]

i always have a hard time finding something good to say about drunken thieves.

 

[Ravi]

Have you considered offing yourself?

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

What are your thoughts on this?

That you’re posting from your parent’s basement in Cleveland.

 

[Ravi]

What are your thoughts on this?

That you’re posting from your parent’s basement in Cleveland.

Actually, from a rectory somewhere in Canada.

 

[California Girl]

Call the appropriate authority and give them his name and address.

 

[Swagger]

Call the appropriate authority and give them his name and address.

Though most would echo your advice, experience tells us that going down that avenue seldom yields any positive result or sanctions.

 

[rightwinger]

I assume the money they stole was donated to charity

 

[Swagger]

I assume the money they stole was donated to charity

I can't say. All I can "assume", is that the money was redistributed - perhaps among those whose tax-levied wages contributed to the dole payments brought about by fraudulent claims.

 

[Mr. H.]

I bet they went back to the bar and drank the proceeds.

 

[Wiseacre]

What moral quandary? Those two guys committed a crime and should be jailed for it. There are no excuses, no extenuating circumstances, what they did was WRONG.

 

[PixieStix]

Those guys were wrong. I am surprised that anyone would even think about applauding these two drunken thieves.

Disgusting!

I hope the guy ID's them and they are forced to take "personal" responsibility

 

[Si modo]

They are thieves. Just because they believe the man got the goods through deception does not rationalize their theft.

 

[PixieStix]

I assume the money they stole was donated to charity

Assumption is the mother of all screw ups

 

[Swagger]

They are thieves. Just because they believe the man got the goods through deception does not rationalize their theft.

From what they've told us they didn't "believe the man got the goods through deception", they knew. He was bragging about it.

 

[Sherry]

Come on, simple rules we learned as kids...two wrongs don't make a right.

 

[Swagger]

Come on, simple rules we learned as kids...two wrongs don't make a right.

As a kid, did you applaud the actions of Robin Hood, or did you condemn them?

 

[Sherry]

Come on, simple rules we learned as kids...two wrongs don't make a right.

As a kid, did you applaud the actions of Robin Hood, or did you condemn them?

I was too busy playing with Barbie dolls to give a shit.

 

[Swagger]

Come on, simple rules we learned as kids...two wrongs don't make a right.

As a kid, did you applaud the actions of Robin Hood, or did you condemn them?

I was too busy playing with Barbie dolls to give a shit.

Yes, but you're not playing with your Barbie dolls now (I hope). So, on account of that, you're not so preoccuppied that you can't answer a simple question.