Would you steal if theft was not a crime? Why or why not?

WtfEvenIsExistence3️@reddthat.com to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 46 points –
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Yes it would.

No, it wouldn’t. If murder wasn’t a crime- murder wouldn’t be illegal. It would just be killing someone. Stealing is a crime. If it wasn’t, it would just be taking things.

Stealing as a concept has existed for way longer than laws are

If they’d wasn’t a crime, it would be taking. Not stealing.

Nonhuman animals, which don't have laws, still steal from each other.

No, they take from one another.

Wiktionary defines it as: To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.

“To take ILLEGALLY-” if it wasn’t a crime, it wouldn’t be illegal, and therefore wouldn’t be stealing- it would be taking.