Bicycle Theft and Morality
Aug. 31st, 2003 05:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
guslThere's been some talk about the immorality of buying a bicycle from junkies on the logic students mailing list. But once you're a victim, are you going to set yourself up to be a victim again by buying a legitimate bike (which costs about 5-10 times the price of a stolen bike)?
Is stealing a bicycle worse than buying a stolen bicycle? To a consequentialist (the only reasonable position), the consequences are the same, except that you are supporting a junkie in the latter case. What about ordering the theft of a specific bike?
If you can't enforce the property rights, does it make sense to have them? Is stealing a bike in Amsterdam any better than stealing one in Boston?
another thought: the price of nice stolen bikes. Nice bikes are more likely to be stolen because they sell for more. If buyers know that, they will not want to buy them as much. What is the equilibirum?
Is stealing a bicycle worse than buying a stolen bicycle? To a consequentialist (the only reasonable position), the consequences are the same, except that you are supporting a junkie in the latter case. What about ordering the theft of a specific bike?
If you can't enforce the property rights, does it make sense to have them? Is stealing a bike in Amsterdam any better than stealing one in Boston?
another thought: the price of nice stolen bikes. Nice bikes are more likely to be stolen because they sell for more. If buyers know that, they will not want to buy them as much. What is the equilibirum?