In a story about something that actually occurs more often than you would think, a woman responds to the question of whether she would stop to steal (yes, it is stealing) money on the highway dropped from an armored car.
"Of course I would," she said. "If the armored car had been in an accident of something, I'd make sure the drivers were OK and I'd call 911. But I'd put as much money in my pockets (as I could) and run."
Obviously the woman has questionable morals. "Questionable" because maybe she's not familar with Kant's categorial imperative, but she does seem to have it at least partially in mind when she makes the following statement:
But what if her kids were there? "I absolutely would not take any money," she answered again without hesitation. "I wouldn't want them to get the message that grabbing money that is not yours is the right thing to do."
Another guy later in the article notes:
[H]e would get out to pick up the cash, with a few conditions. If he had kids and they were in the car, he wouldn't do it. He also wouldn't risk his safety.
Parents, kids learn by your actions, not by your words. They are fully aware of hypocrisy when they see it, especially when they can pin it on their parents.
Your pop caught you smokin' and he said, "No way!"
That hypocrite smokes two packs a day.
Lastly, this comment from a different clown:
Another kind of karma occurred to Dennis Lowe, 30, of Providence, R.I. He said it's simple human nature, especially if the money is from an armored truck. He said plenty of Americans are fed up with banks, insurance companies and other corporations that move cash in armored trucks.
"The money is insured," he said while waiting downtown for a bus. "They've been taking money from me, so it's just karma."
First, that money stolen is paid for by the rest of us in the form of reduced stock returns in our retirement portfolios, lower wages, or increased prices.
Second, in a world of specialization and voluntary exchange, how have banks, insurance companies and corporations taken money from Mr. Lowe without his willing consent? Oh I know of one all-too-common way, a way that maybe, just maybe, legitimizes stealing from the government. (I disagree with this too, but can see how people legitimize it.) But don't blame companies for getting rich by enriching you.
BTW - Speaking of armored car mishaps, watch this humorous documentary of a Loomis Fargo theft in Charlotte, NC in 1997.
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