Noobies VÜ

I've been doing a bit of thinking lately.
The other day I had a friend tell me that they stole something from a local restaurant, just a nifty little tool that they use there. Why did they steal it? Because they were dared and they thought it was "funny".

I'm really conflicted with this revelation. I do not agree with stealing. At all. BUT I have downloaded pirated movies and have a couple of songs that were likely pirated as well. I usually give my friends a total ration of shit about it when I know they do it. The irony being that one of them is the one that gave me a bunch of pirated songs. I have also got a few books for my kindle that were pirated. (Harry Potter and Sookie Stackhouse- I've even offered them to friends. Hypocrite much?) but I justify it to myself since Harry Potter is not available on e-reader yet and as soon as it is I am buying them. But I also realize that hey, I have all the hardbacks, so how fair is it that I can't just import those into my Kindle? I was able to rip my cds into my iTunes. But at this point in time there is no way to convert your existing library into your e-reader. sigh.

But to go back to what prompted this, I have friends that pirate a shit-ton of movies and music to the point of being quite proud about it and even to the point of having their internet blocked due to these practices yet they are still unrepentant about the practice.

The thing is, I could never imagine any of these people ever walking into Wal-Mart of Bestbuy and stuffing a dvd or cd into their bags, let alone a few hundred of them. But doesn't piracy amount to the same thing?

What happened to our morals as a country that such activity is so much more acceptable? I admit it, I would have a hard time being friends with someone who I knew was a thief. But I do know people who are. Does it make it so much different since it's digital and not physical? I mean I trust these people in my home; I'd never think they'd steal from me. But they do steal, on a regular basis. How do I feel about this?

I know, a ton of people will be like, well don't judge them. I judge, but I try to not to convict, if that makes any sense at all. I mean we all judge, it's what people do. But we don't always pass a conviction onto the things we disagree with. It's a "victimless" crime; it doesn't hurt anyone I know. But it still hurts society doesn't it?

Other than the "funny stealing" that my friend told me about, this weekend a couple of things happened that make me acutely aware of thievery and how it affects people. One I won't go into, my friends know what it's about and know what I am going through. But the other, someone getting my CC number and making a dupe card and clearing out my account. I should be really pissed. But I'm not. It's weird. Maybe because I don't know them, and they don't know me so I can't take it personally. Like I would if it was friend or family. It also didn't hurt that I was able to recover all my money within a couple days. But it still begs the question? Why take something that isn't yours? And can't this be extended to simple piracy?

It seems like a grey area to me at this point. I love and adore my friends that pirate and would never doubt their integrity otherwise. But it makes me think a little bit.