Mohammed asked:

Please try to answer this problem:

"Abdel Magid is a son of a bus driver, his father earns less than 100 B.D. a month, and he has three
brothers and two sisters. After high school he could not afford going to college because of his family
situation. As time passed, his situation became even worse, he had no money, no job, and no one to
help him. Yet like all young men, he needed and wanted a lot of things, so whenever he needed
something he simply stole it. Although he was aware of the moral law: stealing is wrong, he did not
stop. He thought that stealing from the filthy rich is permitted. To Abdel Magid, he is poor because
someone out there has more than he or she needs, and therefore he thought that taking whatever he
needs from the rich is not wrong, rather it is his right.

Question: Is there anything wrong with Abdel Magid's thinking?"

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Well, firstly Abdel is acting under the false belief that stealing from the rich is permitted. It may be a
false belief that he is poor because others have more than they need which depends on how far he
could have gone in finding work, since there obviously is work available, such as bus-driving. Even if
his beliefs were true, he is acting irrationally. He couldn't make it into a principle on which he believed
everyone should act since he would be inviting competition and making his life of thieving more
difficult, and also if everyone stole from the rich there would no longer be any rich to steal from.
Another irrational aspect is that if he were rich he wouldn't think it right for the poor to steal from him.

Apart from being irrational, his behaviour is immoral and lacking in prudence. We see the lack of
prudence in his failure to think about the future when he is likely to be caught and punished. This is
unsuccessful behaviour. The immorality is in not respecting other's feelings about their property. The
filthy rich might have worked hard for their money. Further, needs vary. The richer people become,
the more money they need to support new ways of life, so he seems to lack social understanding.

It might also be thought to be politically mistaken. He doesn't have a right to take what he needs
especially when these are needs are those of a young man who has developed a desire for a lot of
"things".

If he really thought that people are poor because others are rich, and people have a right to take
whatever they think they need, perhaps a better course of action would be to set up a political party.

Rachel Browne

Well, you're presenting us with an oversimplified situation and question... why do I say that? Well,
how do I know how much in above is really true, and what is exaggeration? For example, what does
"need" mean? How did the rich in that society get rich, by their own efforts or by inheriting wealth?
How does someone know that a) he has what he needs (or does not), b) someone else has "more"
than they need? What is a "right"? How does someone know how much the person he's stealing from
"needs" what he's stealing? And so forth. I'm not even getting into the basis for the Koran's
admonition against stealing, am I (which I'd have to research, anyway).

But I'll go ahead and give you an oversimplified answer. If Abdel Magid lives in a just society... that is,
one that provides the basic needs: food, clothing, housing, etc., and basic education for its citizens,
and, if they educate themselves and work hard, the opportunity (not the certainty, mind you, nothing
can provide that) to advance in the society and in their earnings, then his stealing is immoral. If he
lives in an unjust society, that is, one which does not provide for its citizens' basic needs, nor does it
provide opportunity for education, or at the least, self-education (i.e., free public libraries), or
advancement, and in addition has a ruling class of hereditary rich, then his stealing is (or could be,
depending on situation and circumstance — for one thing, he isstealing only from the rich) moral, and
good luck to him, although I think that it would be muchbetter and more moral if he got out of there to
a just society, as so many are doing, and tried to educate himself and advance by clearly moral
means.

Where are there just societies in the above sense? Scandinavian countries are probably the best
examples. Then most of Europe, Canada, the US. There are others. None of those are heaven, all
have someinjustices, but all, especially the Scandinavian countries, provide (to greater or lesser
extent) the basics, and the opportunities, especially if one becomes fluent in their language.

That's all pretty simplistic, and probably won't be a popular viewpoint, but one must consider that
there are times it is moral to steal bread to survive.

Steven Ravett Brown