Show notes
Thou shalt not miss this episode! In episode 173 of Overthink, Ellie and David talk about theft. They discuss our moral intuitions around theft, how feudalism and capitalism may be founded upon an original (and large scale) act that of theft, and the gendered association between kleptomania and women. They also critique the lack of legal repercussions for tech companies that steal information to train new AI models.
Highlighted moments
the fact that an entire socioeconomic class could have a reason to steal is actually an indictment of the mode of production itself, right? It's an indictment of capitalism much more broadly.
“the concept of theft presupposes that of property. And if we agree with that, then it would seem to follow that the 19th century anarchist slogan, property is theft, is a self-undermining claim”
“it's the making of land into property and the taking of it simultaneously in which the stealing consists.”
“individuals committing an act on a small scale trigger the largest consequences. But corporations doing the same thing on a larger scale walk away completely unscathed.”
Transcript
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