Concepts on Theft

Everyone is familiar with the Ten Commandments; however, few people think about reasons associated to the commandments. Discussing the Ten Commandments on Sabbath is recommended. Thinking of, "thou shall not steal," observing life is a method to solidify concepts. If everyone considered how wisdom of the bible affects life we could avoid problems.

People limit theft to physical objects; however, contracts, labor and service also factor into the exchange of goods. Saying you will hold someone's money for them and return it to them at a later time is a contract. When they ask for the money back the person holding has to return the money or they committed theft. Compensation for holding their money should be discussed before making a contract.

Garnishing wages for social security and pension is holding someone's money for them, yet the government, banks and corporations manipulated the legal system declaring employees are not stockholders and have fewer rights than lenders with better legal protection. It is appalling to negotiate contracts without employees.

Both government and corporations swindle people into giving them money. They promised a retirement in exchange for a loan. After garnishing their paychecks and investing the money when asked to repay the loan they threaten to close the program or refuse to pay the full amount garnished from employee wages.

When Social security was established Congress went to the Supreme Court; wherein, the Supreme Court declared Social Security a tax under the Sixteenth Amendment. Congress may use the fund anyway they saw fit. Now politicians want to close the program. If government ends the program they are still obligated to return wages to every contributor dollar-per-dollar. This is not the full extent of their contract; however, it makes amends.

Deuteronomy addresses several issues related to debt. A foreign or resident worker must be paid fairly for tasks performed. A person in debt is a servant to their creditors (servitude is different from slavery). During servitude they earn credits to pay debt. One day the debt is paid in full and they return to earning a standard wage. Today's society devaluates people's effort. This is faulty. When the debt is paid and the laborer works for less, the previous creditor is not in debt to the previous debtor, yet creditors will frequently avoid making amends.

The one percent wealthy declared they are debt free; however, they acquired debt by legalizing theft. Building an empire of wealth by stealing means they owe many average people money. Attempting to keep people down by ruining their credit only furthers problems. Simply not wanting to pay people fairly is theft. Some may say it is worth what someone will pay; however, it is possible to assess how much something is worth. If a person can make two thousand dollars a week for homecare, the decision to pay is not negotiable. Value of homecare is two thousand dollars a month.

Often people over or under-calculate the value of services rendered. If a company with a good reputation represents a no name artist, the artist receives a lower pay scale while gaining a better reputation. However, when stealing someone's ideas neither monetary nor professional credit is exchanged.

Theft happens all the time. Sin is calculated by God regardless of acknowledging it happens. Everything has a value whether measured by the cost of raw materials or time and effort. An exchange of favors over-shadows amounts owed between two parties. A website was sued for using the name of an organization in their blog. However, the organization increased in memberships because of the blog. The case was thrown out, because they could not determine the value of what each party contributed to the other party's success.

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