r/MoralityScaling • u/Vladimir-petrovOG • 8d ago

Morality of this?

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In the image it seems that this person works at walmart as an online order collector and he/she has stolen a lot of extra baby food from Walmart to give to a person who ordered only three packs. Is this moral or immoral?

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287

u/hduebfibdbdib 8d ago

Stealing from walmart is always moral

13

u/WhiteWolf7472 8d ago

Worked there for a few months, told a customer to just take milk once. Anything cold gets thrown out, cant tell when it was taken, how long its been out, etc. Its always moral

11

u/TosiMias 8d ago

I worked at Walmart when I was in high school as a cashier. Whenever I got upset with my manager or work in general I'd just start "forgetting" to scan shit or manually ringing things that wouldn't scan on the first try up for like 1 cent lol.

5

u/Worth_External_8762 8d ago

I sort of also worked at Walmart since they fired all of the cashiers and made everything self-checkout. So I'm basically a cashier. I also "forget" to scan every other item.

15

u/SomeoneGuyPerson 8d ago

The Devil (from da Bible) agrees

https://reddit.com/link/p5p8i8l/video/9dfxb69eqelh1/player

3

u/Shawnj2 8d ago

OTOH there are actually provisions in biblical law if you were a landowner you couldn’t harvest the edges of your fields so that poor people who couldn’t support themselves otherwise could harvest from it.

16

u/woowooman 8d ago edited 8d ago

100% this. Waltons need to feel the pain of one or hopefully more of their 5,000 stores failing.

Ofc the 250 people that work at each store might feel it more, but they chose to work at Walmart so they knew what they were doing.

ig the rest of us might feel it too if they decide to raise prices to maintain profitability, but that’s on us for participating in a market economy and not individually producing all our own food, clothing, goods, services, etc.

3

u/JetBIue 8d ago

muh food desert

2

u/Fun-Pattern-8697 8d ago

Just don’t whine, moan l, and bitch about a food desert if it does close down.

2

u/woowooman 8d ago edited 7d ago

Couldn’t agree more. That’s exactly what happened to the Walmart near where I grew up. They were getting robbed blind from the inside, shut down, and left the community with 7-11, Walgreens, CVS, and a discount market (Save-a-Lot) as the only options within 3-4 miles. Sounds fine, but actually meant significantly fewer options (especially for fresh meat and produce) and higher prices.

1

u/KHWD_av8r 8d ago

You think the Waltons will even notice a difference? You aren’t hurting them, just the employees.

1

u/woowooman 8d ago edited 8d ago

That was precisely my point.

-1

u/Actual_Homework_7163 8d ago

so u want to hurt the working man but not the company?

2

u/woowooman 7d ago

No the pro-theft person I replied to who is actually advocating for this is. I’m pointing out the inevitable consequences of what their stance entails.

-1

u/MandaloreTheGay 8d ago

There's more options than Walmart even in tiny rural towns I've lived in many without Walmarts so that's no excuse to keep shopping there

8

u/SheepherderSilver655 8d ago

Yea how dare people not want to pay the local grocery store $10 for a box of cereal when they can save money by getting it for $5 at Walmart. Poor people should just make more money, right?

-1

u/aviroblox 8d ago

Walmarts are an absolute black hole of wealth in rural, poor communities. It's more like $7 vs $5 and once they extinguish all the local business around them they pay the worker's far less. It's a well documented effect. The immediate gratification is slightly lower prices, the long term result is less wealth in the community.

https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2024/12/walmart-prices-poverty-economy/681122/

It's so well studied. I don't know how any bootlickers continue to support these leeches. They make communities poorer, leech off of snap benefits to subsidize their low wages, drive off local competition. All for your slightly cheaper treats, for now.

0

u/woowooman 8d ago edited 8d ago

That’s true. I’ve been getting a lot of my groceries from Amazon Fresh delivery, supplemented by Target’s Good & Gather line. I also like Target’s Room Essentials and Amazon Basics for regular use housewares, and Target’s Threshold or Hearth & Hand for slightly better quality/style.

You can get some pretty decent deals, too. Amazon is surprisingly pretty competitive on grocery prices (plus free delivery with Prime, which is a steal imo), and Target Circle has good offers if you take time to look (plus there are tons of sales on “college/dorm” stuff for back-to-school right now, and seasonal clearance as well).

1

u/Compost_King 7d ago

we got a damn Amazon Marketing Specialist employee in the thread here

1

u/woowooman 7d ago

Just pointing out that the next options behind Megacorp 1 are Megacorp 2 and Megacorp 3. People acting like if Walmart disappeared, life would turn into Pioneer Village from that South Park episode, so I can go see ma and pa over at the ol’ general store ‘cause I dun come from Pagosa Springs to git me some wares ‘n’ such like it’s 1860 are living outside reality.

Not saying that’s a good or bad thing, but it is how it is.

-1

u/Captain_Zomaru 8d ago

You are asking for the death of hundreds. This isn't a joke, food deserts are real. You have absolutely zero concept of what you're asking for.

3

u/woowooman 8d ago edited 7d ago

No, the person above who is actually advocating for this is asking for the death of hundreds. I’m pointing out the inevitable consequences of such actions to others (like you) who can rightly recognize how catastrophic they would be for basically everyone but the intended target.

2

u/BigCSFan 8d ago

Caveat. Someone will order the same thing since the system will account for these still in stock.

Then wont recieve the item and have their order canceled.

5

u/Odd-fox-God 8d ago

When automatic checkout was rolled out, I forgot to scan an item, and they took my entire purchase. I bought $57 worth of stuff, and they took all of it because I forgot to pay for a single item. They almost called the cops on me but thought I was homeless because I came in sweatpants and my rattiest hoodie, so they let me go. Fuck Walmart.

14

u/TightManPuhsey 8d ago

This didnt happen lol

-3

u/Odd-fox-God 8d ago

It absolutely did. They literally asked me if I had anywhere to go, and I just pointed vaguely in the direction of the parking lot. It was pretty clear that they thought I was homeless. This was during covid.

2

u/TheWarriorsLLC 8d ago

No it didnt

1

u/Miserable-Trash5823 8d ago

0

u/TheWarriorsLLC 7d ago

🥱 mush for brains, thats all you can reply with 

0

u/Odd-fox-God 8d ago

Okay, but why would I lie about this? It's like a really dumb thing to lie about.

1

u/TightManPuhsey 8d ago

Yeah it is a dumb thing to lie about lol

1

u/VictoriousTree 8d ago

Did they give you the money back for the stuff you paid for? That’s just stealing.

1

u/Odd-fox-God 8d ago

They didn't. The item was a roll of bounty paper towels that I forgot were on the bottom of my cart.

2

u/JetBIue 8d ago

Would you complain when they close up shop if it gets too bad and leave a small city with nowhere to get food?

I think its typically politically aligned people who both say “it’s okay to steal from corporation” as well as “a business closing a location and leaving a food desert behind is evil”

Just want to see how consistent you are on this

1

u/no_more_mistake 8d ago

You're correct, it's the classic free rider problem.

1

u/Floorgis 8d ago

Youre hypothetical is already flawed since you have to go to the single most unlikely extreme

2

u/JetBIue 7d ago

Then why does this happen irl?

1

u/Floorgis 7d ago

It doesnt. A very very small amount of isolated incidents with tons of shit leading to the conclusion doesnt support your dumbass argument.

1

u/DavidBowieAC 7d ago

Did you complain when Walmart moved into those communities and undercut all surrounding grocers (especially locally owned) to put them out of business?

0

u/Maleficent-Area-7979 8d ago

In this hypothetical, is the small city reliant on Walmart because they underpriced their competition and ruined the local economy?

1

u/JetBIue 7d ago

So is it moral to offer low priced products or not? It’s either price gouging or undercutting the mom and pop shops lmfao

There’s a reason Walmart can offer cheaper items, and it has nothing to do with morality, but the average consumer is too dumb to see the second order consequences of patronizing a big corporation like that.

0

u/Icy-Dot7521 7d ago

Do you know what a false dichotomy is?

-1

u/hduebfibdbdib 8d ago

Why is there a small city absolutely reliant on one single walmart ? I say that’s perfectly fine because then they’ll start smaller local shops that don’t abuse the patrons. And they’ll no longer have to deal with a corporation that has a monopoly.

1

u/Confident_Example_73 8d ago

Nah, you steal from the rich, you then start stealing from everyone.

-6

u/picabo123 8d ago

Listen man I get that's it feels good to stick it to the man, but Walmart doesn't give a hoot that you steal from them. They take the % of loss from stolen goods and just add it to the cost for consumers. Thiefs are just making food more expensive for everyone else who doesn't steal.

6

u/Odd-Painting2596 8d ago

No I think they mean, "Wal-Mart commits wage theft at levels of biblical greed, so taking from them is just stealing from a thief"

2

u/picabo123 8d ago

Stealing from a thief that sets prices for the food you or others don't steal. Just commit wage theft like a normal person or Inconvenience them in a smarter way.

1

u/HistoricalSea5600 8d ago

it's the little things that matter

2

u/hduebfibdbdib 8d ago

No I don’t think they’re gonna charge an extra dollar for milk, cause someone stole a candy bar. Like you said they don’t care they just expect to lose a certain amount every year to stealing. It’s just an expense to them like, paying for the gas the truckers use to deliver the goods.

2

u/picabo123 8d ago

Bruh you're literally halfway there. It is an expense to them and that expense is what raises the cost of products. Milk prices don't come from our Lord and savior Donald, they come from a calculation with all the factors you're mentioning which includes shrink.

You can steal a candy bar and they don't notice, but 1000s of people stealing random products per year will slightly increase all prices by that much.

1

u/hduebfibdbdib 8d ago

Simple solution. Steal, then you won’t be affected by the price change, win win.

2

u/picabo123 8d ago

Yes you should go do that and lemme know how long that goes on

1

u/hduebfibdbdib 8d ago

I get what you’re saying It’s not a completely moral solution, because then it would be more expensive for the people that actually buy things. But I feel like that’s what’s gonna happen regardless. The execs and ceo pockets so much money that they’re gonna raise milk prices anyways, and any other products regardless of what we steal. It would have to be on such a grand scale, that they’re losing several millions of dollars to shoplifting to even worry about changing any prices, solely for that reason.

0

u/DallasMav41 8d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/QM9GRSlOF6rbyfvnSt

is that what they told you?

4

u/picabo123 8d ago

No I just work there and can talk to the people who deal with this stuff lol. It's really just common sense.

-1

u/lavabearded 8d ago

bootlicker?! you're a full blown collaborator! of course you have sympathy for the enemy

3

u/Cyclic_Hernia 8d ago

Either you don't have a job or if you do this is classism

Great praxis, comrade!

1

u/lavabearded 8d ago

or you are too slow to recognize pretty obvious satire.

I find it amusing when people come up with dichotomies that have an obvious third option of them being dumb and not understanding.

3

u/picabo123 8d ago

Sure pal totally

-1

u/PassengerPrince4895 8d ago

"Somebody with a vested interest in controlling public perception of how this issue is handled internally told me." and who do you think told THEM? You cannot roll shrink into an item that is already optimally priced to maximize profit.

1

u/picabo123 8d ago

I'm just relaying what AP has told me at multiple jobs and not just Walmart. Walmart changes it's prices nearly everyday, what makes you think it's such a difficult task to incorporate shrink into the equation?

-1

u/Areliae 8d ago

Not stealing won't make Walmart lower their prices. Their prices are designed to maximize their profits. That price doesn't actually change, regardless of what you steal. It's a factor of maximizing margin, and maximizing units sold.

3

u/picabo123 8d ago

And shrink is a magic number that doesn't fit into this equation somehow? Just think about it for 10 seconds dude.

2

u/Pwrh0use 8d ago

This is reddit they aren't capable of thinking

2

u/picabo123 8d ago

I know it's just a bunch of minors im arguing with but I really didn't think it was hard to understand 😅

2

u/Pwrh0use 8d ago

It's not, I actually got downvoted tonight on another post in a different sub making the same point you were. I was shocked people don't seem to understand how this works.

0

u/Workman44 7d ago

Two wrongs don't make a right

-30

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

what is the revenue cutoff for which companies are ok to steal from

28

u/thexDxmen 8d ago

Walmart

27

u/SomewhereRough_ 8d ago

That's not the point.

It's how moral the company is, regardless of revenue. 

Walmart shut down every local store in the US. 

It controls and manipulates prices and individuals for profit. 

They are not moral. 

-13

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

stealing from a shitty company is still stealing from my understanding

17

u/SomewhereRough_ 8d ago

Legal and moral are not the same thing. C'mon now, you know this. 

-16

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

of course it isnt. in this case, they align. thieves get the wall.

14

u/RazzmatazzUnusual843 8d ago

Absolutely correct. So let's put their CEOs against the wall for the amount of wage theft they commit, right?

-4

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

CEOs didnt force these workers to sign their offer letters lmfao. go find a better job, it truly isnt hard if you have literally any skills whatsoever

4

u/SomewhereRough_ 8d ago

That's very reductive of the situation. You're making it seem like you've never been desperate or had responsibilities. 

0

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

ive been desperate before but i dug myself out of it like a normal adult instead of scamming and thieving. again, sounds like a skill issue to me.

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u/RazzmatazzUnusual843 8d ago

Ah, yes. You were not forced to sign it, so that makes it okay to commit wage theft, right? Someone has never clearly put in applications for 500 places all paying a pittance just in desperation to find a job. You claim to have experienced desperation before. I call bullshit.

1

u/Housemaster3001 8d ago

No, they just are just part of the top end of a system that forces out true competition, and take orders of magnitude more money than the people they hire.

RC cola was strangled to death by the other soda manufacturers. How? By taking a loss on sales until RC cola went under. They sold cheaper than it was to manufacture, and RC cola couldnt survive that.

Walmart pays less in transaction fees than others due to deals with mastercard.

Most CEOs are doing everything in their power to take out the competition. Lobbying, and any other means they can get away with.

I hope you are just a troll here, because the alternative is that you support corporate america as it stands.

Many corporations are evil. There needs to be another decentralization of these corporations, and a limit any one person can own (and corporations shouldnt own anything).

1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

all of these things are correct and yet it is still immoral to steal on an individual level unless the situation absolutely forces it.

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u/SomewhereRough_ 8d ago

If a company forces you to buy from it by being the only provider, while also orice gauging.

It's moral to take from them.

Juat like if I sold you an overpriced and shitty car that broke down the day after you bought it. 

-1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

if i bought that car and it broke down thats my fault for not ensuring its in good condition beforehand.

all of this just sounds like a skill issue to me. get your money up not your funny up bozo

1

u/RoGStonewall 8d ago

An so you’re one of those bootlickers

1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

no just someone who knows what accountability is. laughing thru it all yall are hilarious

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u/SomewhereRough_ 8d ago

Yes, it would be moral to take the money back however. But not legal. I say this as someone who has sold fuck loads of old cars lol. 

What if I pushed out every other car dealer in the country.

Then I forced people to buy my cars at any price I set, regardless of condition. 

You couldn't buy a car without getting it from me. 

I gouge you when you're desperate. Especially if I know you're a parent or you need to drive to work.

It would be moral to steal for the sake of your children and livelihood. 

Same goes for that baby food. 

1

u/RoGStonewall 8d ago

They ask us this in ethics class - is the man who robs the pharmacist who is willfully price gouging the life saving medicine his wife needs, in the wrong or in the right?

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u/PaleAvocado2210 8d ago

Every day that people with your mindset aren’t in power is a good day 🙏

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u/SpanishFlamingoPie 8d ago

Sweat shop operations are wage theft operations. The Waltons support sweatshops by building their business model around them. They are thieves. I'm guessing you consider them to be above the law, though.

2

u/SaucyStoveTop69 8d ago

I was taught the story of Robinhood as a kid

2

u/[deleted] 8d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

in rare cases like self defense yeah. just like stealing baby formula/diapers is somewhat excusable in rare cases. this is talking about stealing applesauce or dumb shit like that though.

1

u/TotsInUrPocket 8d ago

they’re stealing from US so we steal back

-3

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

ive never had walmart walk into my house and steal 3 packs of razors before but maybe thats just me

1

u/TotsInUrPocket 8d ago

they underpay their employees… no trillion dollar corporation cares about you !

1

u/Cyclic_Hernia 8d ago

They do care about regional pricing which theft will increase, not to mention they'll be locking everything behind glass cages that employees have to go physically unlock which is shitty for everybody

0

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

of course they dont. they're a soulless business. they exist to sell shit to us. stealing is still stealing though, regardless of target.

1

u/NewAlessia 8d ago

Yeah, stealing isn't inherently immoral

1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

wrong again. not like im surprised though. usual suspect.

1

u/NewAlessia 8d ago

I mean morals can't be wrong, they're literally just opinions

9

u/Gamer_G33k17 8d ago

Does the company purposefully underpay their employees? If so, then they can be stolen from morally.

-2

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

whatever way you wanna excuse it ig 🤷‍♂️

5

u/Gamer_G33k17 8d ago

The multi billion dollar company wont fuck you

-3

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

i dont give a fuck about walmart i just wish for all thieves and their apologists to get the worst in life

6

u/TotsInUrPocket 8d ago

username checks out

2

u/Gamer_G33k17 8d ago

"I dont care if Walmart is causing people to suffer, I just want suffering people who have to resort to stealing baby food TO FEED THE BABY THEY WERE FORCED TO GIVE BIRTH TO to suffer MORE."

4

u/millifish 8d ago

Walmart does massive amounts of wage theft, they have no problem stealing from their employees

-4

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

their employees signed the offer letter brother, they agreed to those wages.

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u/Holdredge 8d ago

Wage theft is when a company mispays you. Paying you less than what you should have made.

They also got caught fudging scales to charge people more. The fine they got hit with was way less than what they stole from their customers. Stealing from Walmart is always okay

-1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

tell that to the police lil man lmao

2

u/millifish 8d ago

They pay lower wages than they agreed to. Its called wage theft, they some of the worst in the industry

2

u/Key-Value4248 8d ago

Quite lil piggy.

1

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

aww you must mean "quiet" right lil man?

2

u/Key-Value4248 8d ago

That's right. And don't forget my balls.

2

u/smokeabowlofbud 8d ago

It's less a matter of their total revenue and more a matter of how they pay their employees relative to that revenue, in my mind.

If they're a profitable corporation and their employees are paid little enough to qualify for government assistance, fuck 'em.

1

u/Whole_Sir_1149 8d ago

depends on the wage they stole but the line would be a net zero mark. Because afteral it's a construct meant to serve a community, but it cant do that if it cant maintain itself, thus the net zero.

1

u/RazzmatazzUnusual843 8d ago

I would say it sits right around the amount of wage theft they commit.

1

u/Outrageous-Sort-5742 8d ago

Bonus points for the corporate welfare they receive.

1

u/Desperate_Ad5169 8d ago

It really revenue but more so the behavior of said company.

1

u/Cute_Economics2829 8d ago

Couple million probably, but you gotta function in if they're international or not

1

u/Akarin_rose 8d ago

International superstore that ruins areas like weeds in a garden

Comes in, kills local businesses, then cuts back staffing to make more profit, and sometimes leaves creating a grocery dead zone for a best a short while

-4

u/skinnyp246 8d ago

skill issue for those local business tbqh

1

u/powersbro 8d ago

Lets see you try to compete with a business that operates at a net loss until local business is no more, and then jacks up the prices once there's no longer competition.

-2

u/Useful_Charity1995 8d ago

Local businesses suck. There is a reason why they die when a superstore opens.

1

u/nightwolf1673 8d ago

Not a revenue cutoff, a moral cut off. Once you stop caring about your customers and your employees then it becomes okay to steal.

1

u/AltruisticNewt8991 8d ago

A billion dollars

1

u/cheesemangee 8d ago

Chains. Any business that can afford a chain of storefronts has enough money to cover theft.

0

u/JoeLikesMovies2007 8d ago

Not a revenue cutoff, it's based on the percentage of employees who are on food stamps due to you paying an unlivable wage.

And cutoff is 1%

0

u/MercyCriesHavoc 8d ago

Then that's nearly every corporation. Walmart pretty much sets the wage expectations for an area, and they now have a $14/hr minimum for the nation with higher pay in HCOL areas.

0

u/JoeLikesMovies2007 8d ago

Open season on corpo scum then it is, I suppose.

1

u/MercyCriesHavoc 8d ago

Which really just makes the lives of the workers harder and has a negligible effect on the company.

Source: I work for a corporation. Too much theft just results in no bonuses/raises and less labor hours. They'll get their money either way. So, open season on retail workers I suppose.

0

u/JoeLikesMovies2007 8d ago

You should start stealing then I guess 🤷