"Do Not Steal": A Guiding Axiom

A Useful Lens for Questions of Morality and Ethics

Recently I watched a podcast with a Bitcoin advocate,

Robert Breedlove

, who at one point in the interview, put forth the idea that questions of good or evil, morality and immorality, could be evaluated via a principal, over-arching, simplifying axiom, or master rule-to-live-by:

“Do Not Steal”.

This immediately struck me as being deeply profound, and I felt the truth of it in the tingles that it elicited in my body. As a very simple example, murder is a violation of this principle, because this is stealing a life.

Merriam-Webster dictionary's many and rich definitions of “steal”, I think reflect how profound and deep the concept of “Do Not Steal” may go. As we read through these definitions below, bear in mind that the context will be grounded in what is happening in our society, and in our own modern lives.

steal

ˈstēl

• to take the property of another wrongfully and especially as a habitual or regular practice;

• to come or go secretly, unobtrusively, gradually, or unexpectedly;

• to take or appropriate without right or leave and with intent to keep or make use of wrongfully;

• to take away by force or unjust means;

• to take surreptitiously or without permission (e.g steal a kiss);

• to appropriate to oneself or beyond one's proper share;

• make oneself the focus of attention (e.g. steal the show)

• to move, convey, or introduce secretly, smuggle;

• to accomplish in a concealed or unobserved manner;

• to seize, gain, or win by trickery, skill, or daring;

• the act or an instance of stealing;

• a fraudulent or questionable political deal;

• bargain (e.g. it's a steal at that price);

• steal a march on: to gain an advantage on unobserved;

• steal one's thunder : to grab attention from another especially by anticipating an idea, plan, or presentation;

• also : to claim credit for another's idea.

Here is what I see on the large scale. There are too many people in positions of responsibility and power who are currently engaged in stealing our:

• freedoms (the draconian curtailing of our human rights);

• voices (silencing and censorship);

• health and wellness, and our bodily choices (Big Pharma);

• nutrients and sustenance (Big Food and Big Agriculture);

• children's innocence and normal development (education system, medicalization and sexualization of children);

• attention and focus (Big Tech and social media);

• inner peace and sense of safety (fear mongering News media);

• wealth and money (bankers and financiers);

• democracy (corrupt politicians);

• time and effort (bull**** jobs);

• awe and wonder (reductionist science);

• humanity (technocrats and trans-humanists);

• sanity (gaslighters);

• property (“you will own nothing...”);

• food and energy supplies (net zero);

This is why I believe we need to start being more careful and responsible for who we elect, who we buy from, and who we lend our support to.

I also believe “Do Not Steal” violations are a good yardstick by which to measure such folks. I think that, in particular, we have to stop protecting, shielding, enabling, and doing the bidding of people in positions of power and responsibility who do not pass this test. Even, and especially, those who are saying the words we want hear.

If there is one thing I want for Christmas, it is this: more people standing up and speaking out against the wrongdoing by very powerful and responsible people, and certainly to stop protecting, enabling or excusing them.

On the more personal level, the best place to start may be through self-awareness and by taking responsibility of our own lives. As the year comes to a close, I feel it is worth taking stock of our lives, behaviours, habits, and relationships, and shining the light of “Do Not Steal” on ourselves.

We may need to assess first and foremost if we are stealing from ourselves: are our choices just stealing from our own life force, elan, joy, health, fulfilment, purpose, future, life span? Are we engaging in easy dopamine hits which steal from our baseline dopamine?

Then may I suggest we could reflect on whether we stealing from other people in our lives, and to take a health check of our relationships, perhaps to notice where we may be allowing others to also be stealing something from us.

I really think this could guide us in how we can treat ourselves and each other better.

Another observation: stealing is antithetical to healing.

An opposite of stealing is giving.

This will be last post before Christmas, so a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all my readers.