Make no mistake about it, you are a thief. You know the person who locates unsuspecting people, pulls a gun on them, and asks them for their wallet and jewelry? You’re just like that. Or the person who walks into a convenience store, stuffs a couple Twix bars in his or her pocket and then departs without paying? You’re like that too.
It takes farmers, factory workers, executives, transit employees, accountants, HR people, graphic artists, janitors, robotics specialists, chemists, clerks, marketing specialists, quality testers, lawyers, and many others to put that Twix bar on the shelf of the convenience store. All of them put in hard work to be able to deliver a product they hope that the public finds desirable, and you just stole it. Now the only way for the hard-working people to get paid is to have the rest of their customers cover the cost of your theft. Essentially, other hard working people are paying for your criminal rewards.
But, you say, you don’t steal candy bars from convenience stores. You’ve never mugged someone at gunpoint. You consider yourself a law-abiding citizen, pay your taxes, and even give to The United Way or the collection plate at church. So what? You’re still a thief. Just because there are no safeguards to prevent you from stealing and no consequences for your actions doesn’t make your theft any less of a crime.
No, I’m not talking about pirating copyrighted material off of the internet. I’m talking about listening to Public Radio without becoming a contributed member. Quit making other people pay for your crimes and reward the hard-working people who make Public Radio a reality. Become a contributing member of Public Radio today.
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