August 15, 2005

The Great Debate

So the spinto band doesn’t really have debates about anything but beast wars topics (see message board.) However, today, the spinto band became philosophers for about a half hour. It all arose when I had a moral plague in the back of my head. I have been purchasing fountain sodas at gas stops, then refilling the empty cups at separate gas stations or restaurants. I asked the band if they thought this was stealing, and more importantly, whether or not it was wrong. I tend to place it on a different level than taking a ho-ho or a bottled soda, but realize that I am taking goods for free. I feel as though that when you buy a soda, you are mainly paying for the cup, and that those big things of syrup and carbonation make the value of the soda non-circumstantial to the business’s income. We then discussed whether or not morality is a black and white issue or if there are gray areas that work as moral loopholes. For instance, if the stolen good is of little value, is it less of an immoral act to steal it, or is theft of all scales viewed the same? Also if someone else (like a gas station attendant) allows you to steal the soda, or gives you the free refill even though you never bought the initial beverage that is being refilled, are you no longer responsible for stealing the good? The debate then went crazy. We started talking about pirated computer files and fish in the sea and attempted to figure out whether or not we were all going to hell or not. It was quite the debate.

feel free to let us know what you think

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Stores like Subway and blimpie and MacDonalds make a killing on beverages. So specifically taking drinks is no big deal. It probably cost the service station 3 cents for the drink you are taking.

That being said, I would say there are grey area's in "stealing." I would say the severity of the "steal" depends on who is affected and how. Is it fair to ask whether or not the gas station is stealing from you for giving you something that costs them so little and to sell it for so much? If you were stealing gas, the station would lose a significant amount more money, which is un-good. So i guess there are varying degrees of "badness."

--Joe

rokhoper penguin said...

http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~naclhv/blackwhitegrey.shtml

Anonymous said...

Sam...remember when Cindy and your Dad were accused of stealing candy at the movie theatre?????I think it is time for your redemption!!!
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