Are we all criminals?

[OneFootInTheGrave]

For example are you a criminal if you commit a crime but you are not caught? Should you be turned in and punished?

Are you a criminal if you use banned substances or drugs like marijuana or you share music with your colleagues?

Does a state that says that most of its citizens are criminals make sense?

[Bereta_Eder]

pot smokers are a tiny minority, like gays.

[oedo]

in some countries you are (were) a criminal just because you want(ed) to flee from there.

[Spiffor]

Re: Are we all criminals?

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave
Does a state that says that most of its citizens are criminals make sense?

No, and that's precisely why pot should be legalized, and copyright should be completely overhauled to make copies perfectly legal.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Well Fez thinks we all are .

[FrustratedPoet]

Re: Are we all criminals?

Originally posted by OneFootInTheGrave
For example are you a criminal if you commit a crime but you are not caught?

IMHO no. But that's really just semantics. It's still immoral to break the law whether you get caught or not.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Well Fez thinks we all are .

Hehehe...

Yup.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by oedo
in some countries you are (were) a criminal just because you want(ed) to flee from there.

Yes, we all know how awful the USSR was.

[Dauphin]

Re: Re: Are we all criminals?

Originally posted by FrustratedPoet


IMHO no. But that's really just semantics. It's still immoral to break the law whether you get caught or not.

Unless the law sux.

[FrustratedPoet]

Re: Re: Re: Are we all criminals?

Originally posted by Big Crunch
Unless the law sux.

Bending the law to your advantage, without actually doing anything illegal, is OK too. As an accountant you'd know all about that.

[mrmitchell]

You're only a criminal if you commit the act, are caught, and are convicted and the law is not some faschist state death spiral.

[Hueij]

We are all criminals if given the chance. Anyone that sees an easy way to get to the money will do so. The people at Enron did it, I did it and all of us do it by downloading music and software without paying for it.

As long as people think they can get away with it they will be criminals...

[Firelad]

The only way not to be criminal is to understand that law doesn't really exist It's just fiction...

[Ben Kenobi]

You're only a criminal if you commit the act, are caught, and are convicted and the law is not some faschist state death spiral.

I agree with the third, but not the first two statements. Law cannot be arbitrary, but you are still a criminal if you commit a criminal act and do not get caught.

understand that law doesn't really exist

*sigh. I find myself agreeing with you here Firelad, if you mean a criminal law in a society, and not a moral code. Today in particular, I'm a bit out of sorts on this point.

[Firelad]

Obiwan: Yes, that's actually is what I meant