Why do people steal?

Because everything is mine.

Because people are greedy.

People steal because they care nothing for the rights of others and feel that they should take whatever they like because they can take whatever they like.

The excitement
As an ex shoplifter, I can tell you I find it exhilarating when I steal some expensive art equipment and getting away with it, giggling about it on the way home.
This conversation is OVER

Fucked up as it may seem to you, a lot of people think that it is amusing to make people miserable. This explains a lot of the things people do to each other every day.

Actually, I don’t steal either, and working as a cashier in an isolated booth the temptation is there. The most I’ve ever done is take Halloween pumpkins or yard signs.

People steal because they get a rush from it or because they think it won’t hurt anyone.

People who are afflicted with Antisocial Personality Disorder do not understand the concept of “feelings”. They are incapable of the empathy that would be required to understand the pain of the person who lost her laptop. They tend to be impulsive, to act without regard to consequence, and to take what they want because as they understand it, it’s really already theirs. There is not much hope for treatment currently for those who are so afflicted, but there are other mental diseases we used not to be able to cure, but now we know how, so there is always hope.

Because people are flawed; some more than others.

The one thing I’ve ever stolen was lipgloss when I was like 17. Why? Because it was grossly over-priced, and I wanted it.

@PretentiousArtist stealing from a store may seem like a victimless crime, but I bet some ground floor employee got yelled at over the lost merchandise. Did you ever think about that?

I didn’t think about that back then, but I do now. I still feel ashamed of myself right now. It was an incredibly immature and immoral act.

Because we can.

@PretentiousArtist well, good on you for growing up and learning from your mistakes.

I used to be a Thief, in every sense of the word. The only thing I didn’t steal was cars. I knew all the tricks.

Until this day, I’ve never thought about the people I stole from. It’s actually kind of mind blowing thinking back now, because I’ve stolen some shit, lol. I stopped long ago, but I still think about it and I could easily be one of the hosts from “It takes a Thief.”

The reason I stole was for things I could use or enjoy. This is just silly things from stores, like, CD’s, movies. One time I walked out of a store with a skateboard. I just took it out of the package and walked out like I owned it. It was later when I made “friends in crime” that I started stealing as a way to make a living. We’d steal anything we’d think someone would buy from us. Car stereo equipment, quads, lawnmowers, skidoos, drugs from drug dealers. At one point in my life I had to steal food since I was homeless and jobless.

Point being, Thieves don’t think about the effect they would have on others. It pretty much a selfish act. “How can stealing this better my life?”

I look back and see myself as ignorant. I wised up in another state, away from my partners. They planned to rob a guy that grew pot and had quite a bit of number of plants. They got busted, a neighbor saw the deed being done and called the authorities and both them and the drug producer got arrested. It was at this time I knew my time as a thief was over, because if I wasn’t out of state I would’ve been right there with them.

I’ve never been caught and I plan to keep it that way, but I do have a better awareness of things that could be easily stolen and I inform people, as I am now. I would never steal again, but I could do it easily if I wanted. It’s just not worth it and now that I have the thoughts of all the people I stole from I kind of feel bad about it, but what’s done is done and I gained a lot of experience from it. So, I don’t regret it.

People steal for:
-something to turn around and sell for cash for drugs, drugs and more drugs…
-excitement
-because they really want it and they’re too cheap to pay for it.
-the things they need

It is a failure of the Golden Rule. If you were the shop owner would you want someone to steal your merchandise. If it is your laptop that is stolen how happy are you know? Some young people steal because they are not as aware of consequences in general, but adults who steal have a problem in my opinion. Many shoplifters can easily afford what they take.

@Axemusica Did you steal from individuals or just stores?

aw that’s awful!

When I was younger, I stole. But not from individual people. It was things like make up, or candy, or cigarettes (I was quite young for that one) I was stupid, selfish and ignorant.
People who steal belongings of others, like their car, laptop, camera….those people really piss me off. People work hard to earn their belongings, they have sentimental value (if they steal a camera with lots of pictures) I can’t imagine just taking that all away from somebody.

@casheroo my sister-in-law was robbed several years ago, her home was robbed, and they stole her jewelry and her video camera. Packaged with the video camera were all of her videos of her children from baby to older.

@JLeslie both. Individuals were easier since most people are very careless with their belongings. That was to make money though. We didn’t steal things from people for personal use, it was to be sold. The stuff I stole from stores was for personal use. It was when I was younger and didn’t have money and wouldn’t have gotten it any other way.

In terms of non-shoplifting, I agree with what other people have said: when you steal from someone, such as a laptop, it’s an entirely selfish act. You want the item, you don’t want to or can’t pay for one of your own, you see an opportunity to get the item (illegally), and you don’t care what the person who owns that item thinks. Robbery is basically the same thing in that you want items (for the items themselves, the money, drug money, etc.) and just don’t have the conscience to stop you from getting them when the opportunity comes up.

Shoplifting is basically the same thing except it’s more that you just don’t “feel” like paying for the item. I know for a fact (I think) that shoplifting is one of those things that once you start, it’s hard to stop. You get addicted to stealing little things from stories. I know two girls who like to shoplift sometimes. I’ve only ever seen them “jack” (as they put it) Visine and tampons, but I know that they became sort of addicted to it and one of the girls attempted to stop and hasn’t done it in over 6 months. (Yes, I do think they had at least some form of kleptomania).

I’ve never stolen anything, either. Offline. :)

I haven’t because if I want something, I’ll pay for it. I don’t like the idea of stealing items from stores (which steals money from the people who work there) and I would never steal from a person. I just don’t like causing negative feelings in other people and the Golden Rule is key here. As for stealing music online…meh….I only do that when I can’t find the music on iTunes.

Many reasons: thrill, compulsion, need, greed, out of spite.

I always stole things from my sister. Probably because I wanted to be close to her.

@Axemusica I wasn’t judging, just curious. Thanks for responding.

I stole because I wanted the stuff. For a long time I stole a lot grom one particular store: the giantest, evillest, corporation in America. I stole the stuff because I wanted it, don’t get me wrong – I just only did it from that store, because they deserve it. holden, no one gets yelled at – it’s called loss. They give managers classes on it, and those managers take many measures to stop it – the floor employees don’t get yelled at, and not even the managers. It would be the general manager or supervisor – and they make a bunch of money, can handle the yelling, and won’t get fired for it unless they are doing a truly abysmal job of catching any shoplifters.

The only reason I stopped stealing was because I got caught once, and because I have begun to make a bit more money. I would never steal from anyone other than a giant faceless corporation.

@wildpotato huh? You are right, the stores figure a certain amount of inventory will be lost to theft, it is a cost of doing business, but that cost is passed on to customers. It hurts PEOPLE by the stores having to raise prices to account for such losses.

Also, in case you all don’t know. Stores that pay commission to sales associates take away commission if something is returned. So if you steal something off the floor and then return it for credit or money, you take money directly out of the pockets of the sales people who work in that department.

I don’t understand it either, unless it was necessary for survival. Even stealing from an ‘evil’ store or corporation hurts everyone, (even the thief!) in the form of higher prices and ever greater surveillance of everyone. I hate to even put my phone back in my purse in a store for fear that someone will think I’m stealing something.

This is why I can sleep at night, because I don’t steal and I don’t lie. I did when I was younger, but fortunately, I wised up. Having things stolen from me helped, because I was then able to see what I was doing to others.

Reminds me of that old question, “If you are an employer and two people apply for one job; one is a thief and the other is a liar, which one do you hire?”

A: The thief, because you can at least keep an eye on him.

Someone stole my wallet, first week at a new Uni. I had to replace my college ID card (which served as my access to my dormitory and lunches), driver’s license, credit cards and debit cards. Not to mention, there was about $80 my dad had given me for food and basic items. It sucked.

I’m always cautious of people stealing my stuff – rather than how I could steal other people’s. I think that anxiety subconsciously disperses any thought of ever stealing anything from an individual.

Now, stealing a pack of skittles from a vending machine or a pen from work I view a little different.

@Psychedelic_Zebra lol I like that, but eye’s do wander, even if I do agree. ;)

Oh yea did I mention I was pretty good at magic tricks too? lol

Old joke: Two guys own a dry cleaner, Joe and David. One day Joe finds $20 in the pocket of a customer’s trousers. Joe thinks to himself…do I share it with David or not?

@JLeslie Both good points.

I’d be very happy if this particular store raised their prices – their insanely low prices drive every local store in competition out of business. That’s part of the reason I stole exclusively from this corporation, in fact. As to your second point, this store (and most giant corporations that aren’t Best Buy) had no one on commission. Actually, they have very few full-time employees, because eliminating their full-timers allows them to get away with not giving their shitty health insurance to most of their people. And as I said, I had no interest in returning items for money – I just wanted the stuff.

Sales associates would watch me stealing from this place and give me huge grins. My friends who work at this store rob them every way they can get away with it, as often as they can, and have told me that they enjoy watching customers steal. For all these reasons, I have zero qualms about my actions.

@wildpotato I just think its wrong. The way to punish a store is to stop shopping there, hell even picketing would sit better with me. Stealing makes no sense. You are willing to be a criminal to get back at a store?

Because people want things they can’t afford.

@JLeslie You’re right, as Capt_Bloth is pointing out to me – it does still help the store in a roundabout way to steal from them, simply because they are having the product removed from their shelves. Never thought of that aspect before, thanks. But as I said, I wasn’t doing it to get back at them. I was doing it to get the stuff I wanted. I stole the stuff from this particular place because I think they deserve to be hurt financially.

I’m willing to be a criminal primarily because I’m already labeled a criminal for certain actions I have engaged in every day since I was 17. I think that being on that side of the line lets me take a not-so-strict view on taking actions that society calls criminal, but I personally feel hurts no one. So I guess I’d say that in my experience marijuana is, in fact, a gateway – not so much to other drugs, but to other victimless crimes. And this gateway would be removed if we just legalized marijuana already. I’m absolutely serious when I say this, and I really don’t feel like I’m just making excuses for myself: Obviously, I feel little need to excuse my actions. if weed were legal when I was 17, I doubt if I’d ever have stolen a thing, because I would have hesitated to cross the line into being a criminal. But I don’t want to hijack this awesome thread with a tangent on weed – let’s post a different question if we want to talk about that issue some more :)

As others mentioned, the thrill is definitely a reason. Also, stealing is considered a social wrong. But you aren’t born knowing that stealing is bad. Sometime, somewhere over your childhood phase you wanted to take something that is not yours and a mentor figure told you that stealing is bad. Not everyone is lucky enough to be raised with these values or with guardians that teach them the difference between right and wrong. So they grow up doing whatever they think is right, which would be follow their inner “I want” and then once they get into the habit of doing something wrong, it’s hard to set on a straighter path.

@PnL You meant “wanted to take something that is not yours”, right?

@PnL You think the people you described think it is “right” to steal? They are that absent of right and wrong? Or they just don’t care?

@wildpotato – Yes, thank you. It’s fixed now :)

@JLeslie – This doesn’t describe all people that steal, but it does describe some of them. And yes, it is not unusual for someone who doesn’t have a proper parental figure (for whatever reason) to not be able to differentiate between right and wrong. Like I said, you aren’t born with these values, they are cultivated into you through nurture. If your life since a young age has been all about fending for yourself, you might just see the world in that view and not be able to understand that everything isn’t up for grabs.

“Because fools are slippin”. As soon as you forget to lock your car door, or house door, let someone in the bathroom with vicodin in the medicine cabinet, or you leave that cd in the cd player at work and leave it unattended shit is going to disappear. I don’t matter whether its petty shit or Enron shit people will steal. Just because your paranoid don’t mean their not out for you.

P.S. Kleptomania is a frequent and documented side effect of benzodiazepines such as valium and xanax.

well, to simplify. because they can. risk, reward. period.

Some juveniles do it to gain status. Same as when hacking into computers. The crowd will supposedly admire them.

Of course, Robin Hood stole because he thought the feudal system was unfair. Well, it was.

Bahhh someone click GA on my big post. It’ll be my first 10. Lol

yay. Thnx whoever you two were. :)

^^ Lurve whore. ’)

@augustlan awww come on. It’ll probably be the only 10 I’ll ever get, lol.

Congrats on the 10+. From one lurve whore to another.

Awwwww thanks. LURVE!!

I think a lot of people, not just thieves, have been raised to believe that property ownership is a privilege only. While it may be a privilege, it is also a human right, just as much as life and liberty. I doubt @Axemusica or @wildpotato would be so nonchalant about murdering someone, even the CEO of the “evillest, corporation in America,” as they are about stealing from them.

There is also the strong belief that those who have more than us have somehow gained what they have through illicit or unethical means. Rich people only got that way because they exploited the poor. Corporations are evil because they immorally charge low prices and put competitors out of business—never mind that they are providing low cost goods and services to consumers. Thieves assume that whatever success someone has was ill-gotten (because they are thieves, right, and all their own success is ill-gotten). Therefore, the thief is just as entitled to it as the rightful owner.

By stealing from a store because they put “local” companies out of business, @wildpotato is selfishly putting his values on society as a whole. All consumers should pay more because he doesn’t like this particular company. Never mind that this company employs many more people than the mom and pop store they supposedly drove out of business. Never mind that they provide lower prices than the mom and pop stores, thereby giving poorer people more options. No. Thieves don’t think beyond their own noses. They see something, they want it, they take it. Then, rather than face the fact that they are deadbeats, they come up with reasons why the victim of their crime deserved what they had coming.

It’s not much different than the abuser. It’s the victim’s fault. “You shouldn’t have done [x,y,z] and made me so mad I had to hit you.” To the Corporation, “You shouldn’t have been so successful that I had to steal from you.”

It’s selfishness in it’s most pure and childish form. And it’s disgusting. Except in children. I can excuse it in anyone whose age is less than two digits. Beyond that, I have no words to describe how much I loathe thieves.

@Poser a twisted view, but oddly logical. Lurve! Although I used to be one, I do dislike them also, now.

@Axemusica Didn’t mean to sound quite so harsh towards you. I do believe in forgiveness and redemption, and I don’t think someone who steals is automatically bad, especially if they admit the wrongness of their deeds, as you have done.

@wildpotato, on the other hand, is still trying to justify his crimes. No apologies to him. Hope he gets caught and prosecuted to the fullest extent the law allows.

@Poser: I gotta say, that was one of the best answers I’ve read on Fluther. Awesome.

@nikipedia—Coming from you, that is the nicest compliment I’ve received in quite some time.

Really, I think it’s one of the most judgmental, superficial one-sided comments I have ever read.

@tinyfaery—What’s superficial about it? One-sided, sure. I don’t believe that someone who steals deserves a “side.” By their very deed, they are completely disregarding others’ rights, and therefore forfeit their own.

Life, liberty, health and property. The basic human rights. I have no sympathy for those who violate others’ human rights.

And may others lack sympathy for you, as well.

@Poser Hi! Love your name, first of all. Second, I’m a chick. To the rest of it: you’re not really reading my posts very carefully – I’ve been emphasizing that I stole stuff because I wanted the stuff. NOT because I wished to punish this store. Now, imagine you’re me, and have no money, loose morals, and no stuff. The next step to take would be to decide which store to steal the stuff you want from. Hey, you think. This one store would be good because A) most importantly, it’s ridiculously easy to not get caught, and B) these mofos deserve this much more than any other place I can think of. Everyone I know who works here steals from it, and they tell me about how they enjoy it when they see customers taking things. Also, I’ve read about myriad horrible things this corporation has done – like making working conditions in their factories horrible even for China, like polluting the environment with carelessness and then doing nothing to remedy it when it was brought to their attention, like denying health coverage to one of their extremely needy employees based on what everyone agreed was a technicality.

As far as helping poor people goes, it’s pretty naive to think that low prices = good things for poor people. Check out this question.

So, I couldn’t really care less about hurting this corporation or not. It’s not a matter of me getting back at the man. I’m not trying to justify the fact that I stole by saying that I did it to some higher purpose. I’m saying I feel no need to justify my theft because I don’t personally feel it was wrong, and part of the reason I feel it wasn’t wrong is because of who I chose to steal from – or rather, if you like, the fact that I made the conscious decision to not steal from individuals or corporations other than this one pace.

I’m actually pretty libertarian: I think it’s great when big companies do well without hurting people too badly. Like Cisco (the food distribution company, not the Internet hardware company). I have nothing against success per se.

@tinyfaery If I chose to disregard others’ rights, I wouldn’t deserve sympathy either.

@wildpotato I don’t even know how to respond. You admit to loose morals, then admit you don’t believe stealing is wrong, depending on who you steal from. Your logic is…let’s face it, your logic is nonexistant. By your reasoning, anything I choose to do, for any reason should be acceptable to others, as long as I can justify it to myself.

If a corporation is immoral, unethical, illegal, it is up to the legal system to determine its punishment. Not you.

Because the society we live in is disgusting. We are slaves to our own race.
Stealing? Stealing from who? Who is to say what material goods are yours or mine. Who are you to even have the need to know why someone else does something? And why not? Are world is a hectic enviroment and hopefully in the future everyone will live in peace and a world full of enlightenment. Unfortunatly or fortunatly (not for me to say) thats not the case right now. Why do you live? No one really knows but if stealing makes you happy why not do it if you know your not going to get caught? The only reason we dont steal from shops or many other different places is because we’re affraid. Dont be. Laugh in the face of the Law. And that girl who got her laptop stolen, her life will go on… She will probably get a new laptop or maybe even have her old returned.

And if this hasn’t helped then the only thing I can suggest for you to do is steal something yourself. Just to see what you feel/think about the indescribable feeling.

@Dontlivelifeloveit “The only reason we dont steal from shops or many other different places is because we’re affraid.” (sic)

I’m going to have to disagree with you, there. The reason most of us don’t steal isn’t because we’re afraid. It’s because we don’t wish to cause harm. Someone suffers when you steal.