Is it moral to steal from a publically funded institution?

[cliveandrews]

Would it be moral to steal property from a publically funded institution, such as a public school, in the name of recompensation?

For example, suppose I really need a computer, and can't buy one due to being raped by taxes. Would it be moral to steal one from a local college.?

Edited July 1, 2009 by cliveandrews

[Jake_Ellison]

If you can identify where someone's money goes, steal it and give it back to them, that would be moral in the context of a greater effort to change society.

But to just sabotage our society of Laws, without any realistic plan to bring about a better society, would be just as contrary to rational, selfish morality as stealing from anyone else, for the same reasons: you are screwing up the society of Laws you're supposed to continue living in, and you're also risking retribution from the government.

[The Wrath]

Absolutely not. However immoral it is for the government to take your money and use it on whatever it uses it on, don't forget that you aren't the only person being extorted in that manner. Stealing a computer from the local school amounts to stealing it, not from the government, but from the students of the school whose parents are paying the same taxes that you are.

By that logic, it's okay for you to steal GM cars or to rob any bank that was part of the recent financial sector bail-out. When people ask questions like this, it seems to me that they're trying to find excuses to break the law to get some sort of material gain.

Edited July 1, 2009 by The Wrath