Tearing at Society's Moral Fabric

Left-wing influencer Hasan Piker discussed the supposed virtues of shoplifting in a recent viral New York Times interview, and on today's edition of The Editors, Charlie points out how this worldview "is not how we can operate, let alone should."

"He and his fellow panelists," says Charlie, "seem to think that there's something intrinsically different about stealing from a Whole Foods than from either a grocery store in a poor area or from a unionized government shop. But there's not. The rules are the same. And the rules are the same because we want our system to be stable."

Charlie stresses that "these sorts of lacunae would render our culture chaotic. . . . The expectation that you don't steal, that contracts mean what they say, that the rules obtained irrespective of whether or not the person is nice or rich are the bedrock of our society."

"I agree . . . entirely about the morality of it, but one doesn't need the moral case. One just needs to have a modicum of foresight to understand that you can't just create a completely new system from scratch."

The Editors podcast is recorded on Tuesdays and Fridays every week and is available wherever you listen to podcasts.