Would it be wrong to become a Modern Day Robin Hood and steal from the rich to give to the poor?

[Jayson1]

Let's say you had the thieving skills to pull it off which in this day and I guess would mean you putting on green tights and getting onto a computer and hacking rich people and transferring the money to the poor. If you had that power would you do it or would it be wrong for someone else to do it?

Me I wouldn't do it. I would be to affraid of being caught. If someone else did it and I felt their heart was in the right place I would be okay with it I think.


Jason

 

[tharpdevenport]

Yes, 'cause that's not what Robin Hood did.

Robin Hood didn't steal from the rich because they were rich; they were unduly taxed and too much so and he protested by stealing the money back and giving it to the people who were taxed -- the citizens.

 

[Jayson1]

Yes, 'cause that's not what Robin Hood did.

Robin Hood didn't steal from the rich because they were rich; they were unduly taxed and too much so and he protested by stealing the money back and giving it to the people who were taxed -- the citizens.

Isn't that how things work today? Every tax cut for the rich is actually a tax hike for the poor.

Jason

 

[feek61]

I don't even understand the thought process behind this question and I don't understand why rich people are so hated. Would it be ok for somebody to steal your stuff? What's the difference? Is it that the rich guy worked harder or was smarter so it's ok to steal from him? Absurd!

 

[2takesfrakes]

It's not for anyone else to say if I'm making too much money ...

 

[urbandefault]

 

[tharpdevenport]

Isn't that how things work today? Every tax cut for the rich is actually a tax hike for the poor.

Jason

JAyson, you are confused on several fronts.

Number One: You brought up Robin Hood, and used it incorrectly, and you keep on going with it for some reason.

Number Two: You aren't even clear on taxation from where; every country has taxation laws and the approaches to them (right or wrong). I can only assume you mean the U.S.

Number Three: You write two contradictory things in your response above.

Number Four: You erroneously assume the economy is a zero sum gain wherein you take from one, you give to another; that it's all just moving pieces around. This is bizarre and bares no relation to reality.

Number Five: You fundamentally misunderstand how the free market system works in the real world and passed history. Again, this is assuming you are referring to America.

Number Six: Where are the masturbating monkeys and Superman in this post? It's not a JAyson post without them.

 

[Jayson1]

JAyson, you are confused on several fronts.

Number One: You brought up Robin Hood, and used it incorrectly, and you keep on going with it for some reason.

Number Two: You aren't even clear on taxation from where; every country has taxation laws and the approaches to them (right or wrong). I can only assume you mean the U.S.

Number Three: You write two contradictory things in your response above.

Number Four: You erroneously assume the economy is a zero sum gain wherein you take from one, you give to another; that it's all just moving pieces around. This is bizarre and bares no relation to reality.

Number Five: You fundamentally misunderstand how the free market system works in the real world and passed history. Again, this is assuming you are referring to America.

Number Six: Where are the masturbating monkeys and Superman in this post? It's not a JAyson post without them.

Well I was mostly going off the cliche idea that people have of Robin Hood. Also wanted it to be kind of vague so people look at the concept from their own perspective. As for masturbating monkeys they don't usually deal with money but Superman was kind of a reverse Robin Hood.. Spends to much time busting low level street criminals instead of taking on class warfare. He could have solved everyones problems but spends to much time going after a guy just wanting to get into real estate and various problems from his own planet that followed him like Brainaic and Zod.


Jason

 

[Marynator]

I might be mistaken, but I thought that Robin Hood was primarily stealing money that was being used to bribe lords to work against the rightful king?

 

[Spot261]

Yeah, he doesn't really work as an allegory for socialism when you scratch the surface....

 

[Timewalker]

I guess would mean you putting on green tights

Not all versions of Robin Hood wear green tights (I recommend the series Robin of Sherwood - nobody's wearing green tights in that show).

 

[scotpens]

"Blimey, this redistribution of wealth is trickier than I thought!"

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[Kai "the spy"]

Yes, 'cause that's not what Robin Hood did.

Robin Hood didn't steal from the rich because they were rich; they were unduly taxed and too much so and he protested by stealing the money back and giving it to the people who were taxed -- the citizens.

There are several different versions of the Robin Hood story out there, and it's not like he was a real historical person. In the early stories, he's not so much a hero of the poor as he is an enemy of the feudal system. And even in the more modern versions, there are incarnations with more complicated political motivations (like the conflict between the Normans and the Saxons), as well as versions that break it down to the simple formula "take from the rich, give to the poor" that @Jayson1 is referring to, and it is this simplified version that is most commonly identified with Robin Hood.

I don't even understand the thought process behind this question and I don't understand why rich people are so hated.

Yeah, rich people sure have it tough.

Would it be ok for somebody to steal your stuff? What's the difference? Is it that the rich guy worked harder or was smarter so it's ok to steal from him? Absurd!

Except a whole lot of wealth is actually inherited, and even the so-called self-made rich person rarely starts from scratch, and also has to depend on infrastructure, the labour of others, as well as just plain luck. Many a hard-working and smart person failed.

The basic question, would it be okay in this day and age for a non-governing entity to steal from the rich and give to the poor, in theory I am not opposed to that morally. I do think the rich and super-rich, in most countries anyway, are not nearly taxed enough. Also, through funding think-tanks, giving large campaign contributions to politicians (both parties and individual candidates) and owning most of the news media, the rich have worked very hard to keep it that way.
It's more that I think the Robin-Hood-per-hacking method fails in efficiency rather than ethically. Even with the big advantage that the rich have politically, I think the legal way for change through the political process and engaging in political debates is ultimately the better way.

 

[feek61]

Yeah, rich people sure have it tough.

Except a whole lot of wealth is actually inherited, and even the so-called self-made rich person rarely starts from scratch, and also has to depend on infrastructure, the labour of others, as well as just plain luck. Many a hard-working and smart person failed.

This is certainly a very limited viewpoint. In reality most people who are rich worked very hard and sacrificed a lot for it. Those who were lucky enough to inherit money certainly don't keep it long unless they are smart about it. Yes, many a hard-working and smart person fail and many succeed; that's life. I would rather work hard and fail and try again than to sit around a bitch about rich people and fantasize about stealing from them. It's a pretty pathetic notion IMHO

 

[Sgt_G]

Well I was mostly going off the cliche idea that people have of Robin Hood.

Oh, so you're perpetuating the myth by knowingly and intentionally misrepresenting the story to fit your narrative.

As to the rich, well, who gave me a job offer when I retired from the USAF? A rich guy. A rich guy who started with next to nothing a built a company with just under 150 employees. During the time I worked for his company, his wealth more than doubled, almost tripled, and the company grew to over 500 employees. I was paid well enough that I was able to close out my mortgage twelve years early and bought a new car for cash. Did it "harm" me that my total net worth (house/car/savings) was less than that rich guy made in a year? Not in the least. Why should I care that he's rich, other than I couldn't find a poor man to give me a job?

 

[Jayson1]

Oh, so you're perpetuating the myth by knowingly and intentionally misrepresenting the story to fit your narrative.

As to the rich, well, who gave me a job offer when I retired from the USAF? A rich guy. A rich guy who started with next to nothing a built a company with just under 150 employees. During the time I worked for his company, his wealth more than doubled, almost tripled, and the company grew to over 500 employees. I was paid well enough that I was able to close out my mortgage twelve years early and bought a new car for cash. Did it "harm" me that my total net worth (house/car/savings) was less than that rich guy made in a year? Not in the least. Why should I care that he's rich, other than I couldn't find a poor man to give me a job?

Well to me Robin Hood is mostly a dream along the lines of "sticking it to the man" more than it is a legit plan of action. The idea being that when you steal from the rich it will only be from the corrupt ones who abuse the system. If we wanted to alter the question is it could be like this. Would it be okay to steal from the Trump family and those politicans who voted for the tax cuts and give the money to the poor? We know these people are guilty of basically robbing from the poor so you have no innocent rich people in the mix.

Jason

 

[Sgt_G]

I don't know about you, but I got a pretty decent tax cut. Why the *bleep* should I care if a rich guy also got a tax cut? It sure didn't take money out of my pocket. I have family members who are in the lowest tax bracket. One just dropped into the zero-tax zone even tho she got a pay raise at the first of the year. I don't know anyone who got a tax hike this year. Do you??

Every flipping time Congress passes a law to "stick it to the rich", it tends to fall on us in the middle-class zone. For example, back in the mid 1980s they changed capital gains laws in order to "tax the rich". Two years prior, I had started investing in a retirement fund that was tax-deferred capital gains. All of a sudden, I owed taxes at capital gains rates, 33%, on everything in my account, even tho I was in the 15% income tax bracket. Since H&R screwed up the forms, I got a penalty on top of that. I lost every penny of interest, and then some, in the account. I roll what was left into a IRA, only for the IRS to tell me I didn't qualify to have an IRA and hit me with yet another penalty. (They changed the rule the next year, so I did qualify.)

So any time I hear someone come up with a plan to "tax the rich more", I want to hide my wallet. I see your version of Robin Hood coming and I want to knock him off his flipping horse.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Robin Hood

Jayson1, this is primarily a science fiction board. You could have at least used the Hero of Canton as your hypothetical example...

Although I do have some issues with the distribution of wealth in our modern world, I also tend to think that stealing from someone is wrong, no matter who the victim.

 

[Timewalker]

Jayson1, this is primarily a science fiction board.

You've never seen the SF version called "Rocket Robin Hood"?

It was a cartoon with rockets and ray guns. Friar Tuck was still a glutton, though.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Oh, yeah, actually I do have a vague recollection of something along those lines. I don't think child me liked it much.

I like Firefly much better...