Is this unethical?

[Ulysses]

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I'm not rationalizing anything. I understand they are both theft, but the non-blatant theft is simply something that I can live with. If that makes me a sociopath, I guess I am.

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I don't know enough about what the clinical definition of sociopath really means, so I have no idea whether or not you qualify.

However, I think your moral compass is really screwed up. By your logic, you can rationalize just about any criminal or immoral behavior by coming up with a way to perform that behavior without "really" doing it.

Had you said that you would grab a handful of tokens because "f it, I don't give a crap about stealing from the stupid batting cage" then I wouldn't agree with you, but I would at least respect your position. As it stands, though, I think you are a hypocritical weasel.

[Sooga]

Fine. I am a sociopath, as well as a hypocritical weasel. Thank you for the insight. Next time I need some moral guidance, I will be sure to ask for your advice.

[BeerMoney]

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Hmm, good question, and I'm sure you and most people here would assume I would take them. I absolutely would not take them. Taking tokens out of the register (whether I get caught or not) is blatantly theft, whereas what I am doing with the ebay tokens is a more subtle version. This is why while I don't agree that I'm a sociopath, I would be more likely to be convicted on charges of embezzlement or fraud than something like burglary or grand theft.

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No, I did not think you would take them. I thought you would do exactly what you did, which was rationalize a way to make yourself feel better about doing something that is in all reality exactly the same thing. I think you should face that fact that you are as much a thief as the guy who performs the "blatant theft" described above. Whether you care about that or not, that is your own deal. But you are unquestionably as much a thief as the guy who steals them from the register.

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WOW!! This is great!!

[Ulysses]

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Fine. I am a sociopath, as well as a hypocritical weasel. Thank you for the insight. Next time I need some moral guidance, I will be sure to ask for your advice.

[/ QUOTE ]

As I stated before, I am not qualified to make an informed judgement as to whether or not using the term sociopath is appropriate. My guess is you're probably not a sociopath given the correct clinical definition. I do think, however, that you are someone I would be unlikely to trust in many situations, largely because your moral compass seems to veer away from absolutes. When it comes to matters of trust and integrity, absolutes are important.

[RacersEdge]

Sooga, I don't know about sociopath, but I think you are twisted.

You seem to lose sight of the basic elemnts of right and wrong based on what kind of noise goes on around the act. If you steal in one direct step, it's wrong to you, but if you do it indirectly in multiple steps, it OK. Stealing an apple from a grocery store is wrong, but embezzling funds through an offshore account is not as bad. It's all stealing.

[Stellastarr]

But think of all the new "shiny" batting cage tokens the owner gets in return! I think its a fair deal.

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