Political Internet Addiction, Hockey Values, Social Contract

I must first acknowledge that politics is above my pay grade. I am a peasant.  As a middle class , even upper middle class, Canadian I really have very little influence on Canadian politics.  Around the world politics is a game played by a very very few.  I think the ‘club’ membership of those who actually are the real ‘players’ in the game is something like a billion. I used to think millionaires were allowed in the room to watch and maybe cheer and boo but I’m pretty jaded.  It might even be that you need 10 billion dollars to sit at the game tables or a hundred billion dollars.
When I have gone to a casino I’ve suffered losing $20 dollars so politics by contrast is really high stakes poker. It’s a war game between this one multi billionaire team and another multi billionaire team.
So why am I hooked on the internet media politics game show.  It’s pretty much the same for me as hockey.  I don’t play hockey today but I did as a kid.  I actually last played hockey on an “old timers league”.  But that was decades ago.
Politically, as a kid I was on my high school student council executive and president of a city religious youth organization. I was even a city representative to the youth parliament in the capital. At university I participated. I was editor of a unversity newspaper and wrote political articles. I’ve read countless books on politics, all the classics, and studied history extensively, at the post graduate level, and routinely discuss politics with professors in political science, economics, game theory, war college, social science, ecology,  or any of the areas politics might be relevant.
At the professional level I was on the executive of the specialists association and served on hospital committees and other work related committees. I’ve been on executives and even  board members of socially relevant organizations.  I’ve been a debater and public speaker and appeared on television and radio.   I’ve been to the business meetings and participated in the organizational meetings of the social and spiritual clubs I’ve belonged too. Most people would call me that often maligned word , “joiner”, when really I’m a hermit.  I’ve managed some form of business profitably for nearly half a century and employed dozens of people throughout that time. I’ve even managed major projects with an amazing number of moving parts and expertise and people involved to achieve world class results.
I’ve met and shook the hands of 4 prime ministers, spent a day with one, had dinner with another, met a much larger number of federal and provincial ministers, have had friends who are members of cabinet, congressmen and senators. I’ve been that close to the action.  I’ve actually voted in countless elections and participated in political parties most of my adult life, even to the point of giving thousands of dollars to the political parties, much like I’ve supported my church.  I often wonder what these ‘charitable contributions’ say about my sanity, or faith, since often I feel I’m supporting both sides of the equation. Politics seems to be paving the way to hell whereas Religion often points the way to heaven.  Not only that, they’re  often in bed with each other making it highly hypocritical when either talks about sex.
Still I’m at very most a bit player.  Canadians are little more than Jamaicans on the international scene. It’s not like we’re China, or Russia, or America or Britain or Saudi Arabia.  I’m in Vancouver and it’s not New York, Beijing, Moscow or Mexico City.  Our Capital City Ottawa barely recognizes Vancouver’s existence. And Victoria the capital city of our province often doesn’t acknowledge the existence of Vancouver.  I have long ago accepted my irrelevance to most everyone else but myself and my dog.
The point is though, politically,  I really do have ‘skin’ in the ‘game’.  Most people who talk or riot about politics in my opinion don’t. It’s  often very apparent to me from fatuous comments. Much like hearing a person pompously saying that the goalie wasn’t any good in last nights game because he let the football past him several times.  On the other hand curious children and those who are humble adults often have the most insightful comments such as ‘why is the woman shouting instead of using her microphone?’ Much like the child who says the goalie should have caught the puck with his glove rather trying to bat it with his stick.
At  the end of the day I’m really no more relevant to the grand political game than I am watching the Canucks win or lose in a hockey game.  I once said hello to, now memory may fail me, but I think it was Rocket Richard and I got his autograph on my hockey card. At that moment I really was important in the whole world of hockey and impressed all my little buddies no end.
I have always taught that in the grand scheme of things, I am “insignificantly significant” and “significantly insignificant’.
In politics and in hockey I am a ‘fan’.  I’m the fan base.  That’s what these ‘entertainment/marketting’ organizations want and depend upon.
Admittedly my “sports fan’ buddy puts more time and money into his ‘hobby’.  He spends literally days and weeks of hours of time watching the sports channel and has seasons tickets to sports events that cost thousands of dollars. He’s got the funny hats and funny numbered shirts and really does bore people much more than I do.
I’d argue my interest in politics is more relevant.  My participation in politics at the local level has kept the city or province or organization ticking along.  My friends wife believes that the sports associations of the world have all benefit from her husbands money supporting them more than they do her or her kids. A lot of people support casinos, liquor stores and marijuana outlet stores too so my friend has a relative superiority to those low lifes.  I personally accept that as he supports the Canucks among the many teams he follows he can’t be that ungodly.  I’m not sure his wife sees things as I do.
There are however decisions that need to be made to keep hospitals open or to fund emergency shelters and I’ve really helped in the lubrication of that process.  I’ve liked the voluntary aspect of it.
But increasingly politics as opposed to sports has been saying ‘if you don’t join me you will die’.  One of the reason’s I’ve liked hockey better than soccer is that hockey is generally more of a ‘gentleman’s sport’.  Soccer is so very low brow that they routinely have riots in the stands. Occasionally a couple of hockey players might have a go at it on the ice but it’s extremely rare for one teams fans to attack another teams fans.
The Vancouver hockey riots increased my interest in politics because nothing says more about the decline of Canadian civilization than hockey fans rioting.  I don’t think I even read an internet political post before the Vancouver Hockey Riots. Odd, looking back ,that that would be such an important night. I thought the police were great that night but had real mixed feelings about the politicians.   Canada used to be a civilized country.  Soccer fans have been rioting and killing each other forever but Canadians simply were above that sort of behaviour.  Canadians had a higher set of values. We were a cultured people. Hockey was a cultured sport.
But the worst was the realization that the Judges  and Politicians didn’t understand history, hockey, politics or Canada. The judges were the real disappointment.  Indeed if there had been riots when the judges light sentences were dispensed after they were  paid  millions for their political decision I would have been less concerned . These rioting  animals who claimed to be hockey fans got off with sentences that would only encourage future riots for any occasion. This ‘test riot’ in a major Canadian city must now be the beginning of riots and more riots.
Indeed my interest in internet politics followed the  violence among hockey fans.  It was apparent that rich and poor elements were  inciting  that violence. Low brow elements were paid for by the highest.  War was being encouraged and frankly I felt frightened after the judges decision because  I have come to realize I’m  bit old to fight. It really was decades ago that I played in the Old Timer’s Hockey League.  
I also feel there is no where to escape to.   I have visitted Cappadocia where Christians hid underground and built underground churches. I have visitted Meteora where Christians built monasteries on mountain peaks.  But there seems no place for a poor Christian to hide today.  The rich are building space ships.
Meanwhile the thugs are even soiling hockey and the judges and the politicians are encouraging them.  Older, I want law and order but am left with memories of hockey rioters breaking into jewelry stores and fur stores and stealing hoards.  In one night a group of young thugs took financially what it would take me a lifetime or two to earn by working. And frankly it looked easy and tempting. It looked even more tempting when  I saw that the judges only slapped the wrists of rioters.
I watched with interest as gangs of Islamic rapist sexually assaulted gorgeous young western women in Cologne and the Politicians and Judges of the EU first denied it then gave only light sentences to the offenders. . It looked so easy.  A gang of young men could surround a beautiful vulnerable young woman and rape her without any consequences to the offenders.
There is martial law in France, not because of Muslims but because of the gangs of young Islamic men that the government has let into the country whose violence their judges at first supported until now all the citizens of France have soldiers daily on their streets.
I don’t trust this government in Canada, let alone world governments.
 I’m not safe.   The Social Contract is broken in Canada.  The Social Contract I worked for and paid into all my life is no longer supported by my own government or the law courts.  I am losing faith that I will be cared for in my old age. I’m losing faith that there will be doctors or nurses or medicine for me when I’m sick and dying. I am seeing that there will be committee meetings and there will be politics and marketing and advertising people calling things what they are not.
But now that we have hockey riots and judges who support the destruction of the social contract I am more afraid.  Watching the political internet I’m like a gambling addict watching the dice roll on the casino table,  I am really hoping for snake eyes.  If the dice roll snake eyes maybe it will be safe for me to go outside. Right now as things are it’s not safe on Canadian streets.  Rioters are puffed up and swaggering, brown shirted and confident.  The young men go in groups.  I don’t know when they will snap.  They have tremendous encouragement to do so.  Just south of the border there are riots all the time now.  There it was supposedly for a police shooting or for an election. But everytime there are riots people seem to get away with stealing millions and millions of dollars worth of hard earned goods. They also destroy houses, police cars and ambulances and burn down buildings.
 On the street I’ve had groups of young men who appeared stoned  shove past me. They’ve shown me some deference because I’m old but rather big.  They have literally pushed littler people and women out of their way as they swaggered down the street knowing they are safe because the judges and politicians don’t do anything against them.  Indeed I’m more afraid of judges and politicians because they only seem interested in taking money from law abiding citizens with more and more ludicous taxation and regulations while criminals are the only ones who appear to be ‘free’ in Canada, once land of the ‘free’.
One group with their pit bulls attacked me and my dog and I faced them down to protect my dog but I don’t walk on those city trails any more.   I remember mothers used to push their babies along those trails and others with little dogs walked them but now only the young men and women with pit bulls walk those trails or the adults who are bicycling or running.  It doesn’t take more than one incident to make an old person scared. We don’t feel we have second chances.
I actually still feel I’d capably kill a young bully but I don’t think I’d survive the trial process which might well find me guilty despite even witnesses saying I acted in self defence.  There is so much hatred for the old in Canada.  One man in his 90’s who killed a drug crazed home invader spent the next six months of his life facing a murder charge despite all the evidence eventually proving him guilt free.  He was punished as an old man first by the homicial drug crazed maniac home invader interested in stealing his television and then by the legal system playing its game of timeless resources and endless money while he waited to learn whether he would die in jail or not.
 Indeed if I reported the incident of the young man whose dog almost killed my dog or I  hurt more than the  young man’s pride by picking up his pit bull and throwing it in his face I’d be considered the ‘bad’ man.   Thugs go in groups.  They have witnesses to lie for them  In Canadians courts today perjury has no consequence. We see it routinely in such important national trials such as the Gian Gomeshi case. Perjury was blatant to all and even the judge but there was no consequence as those who lie are not jailed or made to pay for the injury of ‘false testimony’.
When I was growing up in Canada, the Canadian Christian value of
"Thou shalt not bear false witness” prevailed in the courts. Bearing of false witness was akin to murder and once a person lied in their testimony, all else that followed was considered false because their character was now defined by their lying  I have spent a life time of truth telling and believed that in court I was required to ’tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth’ . However when they took the Bible out of the courts it appears the judges began to celebrate the liars more.    
I no longer feel safe in the city.  For months a man who threatened to kill me and my dog continues to email me threats despite my contacting the police and the attorney general and blocking him.  Every few weeks I am faced with a  new threat  email . When I talk to others, now hundreds, they tell me, mostly women but also  men that they’ve threatened too and that there was little consequence to those who uttered threats and terrorized them sometimes for years. At most the police have given ‘restraining orders’ which are routinely broken with little consequence.
It’s like the whole issue of gun laws. Law abiding citizens with guns have a 99.9% safety record yet the government keeps restricting and fining this group while all the guns used in crimes appear to be by criminals with illegal weapons. Further repeat offenders increasingly are out of the street despite their recidivism.  Law abiding citizens are punished while criminals are not.  
A day doesn’t go by that someone doesn’t tell me another story of the breakdown of the social contract. Old men and women are homeless. Old men and women are kicked out of hospitals with no where to go. Old men and women have had their savings stolen. Old men and women are being taxed into poverty. A couple of friends who worked hard all their lives are now going to food banks to survive.
More and more my old people are as likely to die on waitlists as they are to get the care they were promised when they were young and worked for Canada believing the Social Contract would be in tact.
I am simply afraid.  I know if I an upper middle class Canadian  afraid then really most Canadians must be terrified when they watch their government and see the decisions of judges and watch the scourge of drug addiction in the city and see that millions are unemployed and that no more money is going to health care orto  the old people but rather it is being spent on palaces and foreign country silliness.
I really don’t think the church has anything much to offer me either. Marx said ‘religion is the opiate of the masses’ and my church has been as lamed brained about distant ideological social constructs while ignoring the poverty among their old. Individually they help but the rhetoric from above is often as space stationed as the nonsense from the politicians.  Everyone who is wealthy and powerful like Bishops and Judges and Government Ministers, Criminals  and Billionaires think I’m silly to be afraid too.
All I have really is  prayer.   And I’m the lucky one.

Omonia: Attacked and Robbed, Athens,Greece, Dec.8, 6;30 pm, 2012

I am staying in a hotel in Central Athens. I can see the Acropolis when I walk around the corner. I went out tonight looking for somewhere to eat at about 6 pm. I saw one young man in his 20's look at me then go back in the cafe and call to his friend. Next thing I knew I was hunted.
I hurried up and then cut back crossing a street so I almost was hit by a motorcycle. What I hadn't realized was how large the pack was. It was a pack. Spread out like a net, organized.  One young man ran into me as I was turning from another. He tore the gold cross from around my neck. Then another of the pack was at me grabbing for the dangling chain. I swung a fist at a third fellow coming in, shouting as I did. They ran off together, some 8 or 10 of them, looking at what the fellow had grabbed. It was my gold cross that I've had over a dozen years. Naturally it has Spiritual, Christian and sentimental value. It's rarely off my neck and it's been in all kinds of poor and dangerous places in the world. Yet here was this 'nest', a concerted group, working as a team, descending on me like a lone deer or rabbit. I screamed "Police! Police! Police". The people on the street  just stood  and watched. There were dozens on the street all of who probably knew who these young men were. Shopowners and cafe owners. These darker skinned guys were wild and unafraid, arrogant and above the law, obviously willing to piss on all of Athens.
I was unarmed. I usually have a whistle and a knife but I wasn't thinking. I was in downtown Athens in the heart of the tourist district. People warned me not to go to Greece. Everyone said it was unsafe for tourists. I didn't believe them. The Neuroscience Conference I'd attended was by Evangelismos Metro station. I walked about the district of theBest Western Ilasia  and  Hilton there without a concern at night.
Back at the hotel I told the manager. He asked if I wanted to call the police. I said no. I was just sad to lose my cross. Gold being what it is today, gold crosses are probably at a premium. I had to think it was a Moslem or an Aetheist. I didn't believe a Christian, Orthodox or Catholic would steal a cross but then there are always those who steal from the church. There are those who steal from doctors too. And those who steal from old ladies and children. Thieves are without God, cursed.He asked if I had lost credit cards.
I said no but that I'd lost a cross and that it was very dear to me. I have other crosses. I just bought a Greek Orthodox silver cross at the Monastery of St. Stevens in Metora. There the gentle people moved up into the high rocks to get away from marauding, pillaging thieves. Herds of human evil roamed through the land then. In the aftermath of this personal attack I feel they're on the rise again today.
The kind and considerate hotel night manager told me he'd recommend no jewelry, no fine things, and that I should only go in the central square at night. In the day time it's safe but at night none of the streets are now safe except the main thorough fares. As usual hindsight is 20/20. There certainly aren't any signs saying turn right not left but I did sense I was in a less safe block. More young men. No women. That was the cue. I'd had my eyes open too but was at a main intersection surrounded by cafe's in an obvious tourist district when they attacked. As the manager said, "It could happen to anyone. They roam in packs,now." Cowards always have. Chimpanzees behave like this. I noticed earlier in the day that the police were walking more often as four than two or three.
Mid after noon uptown I came across a half dozen men shooting up with needles right out in the open on a main thoroughfare.  So they have all the problems of Vancouver's downtown east side drug problem with the theft that goes with it only there's no such demarcation. No area is safe and likely that is becoming true for Vancouver. Cities are devolving as police are expected to do everything but address crime. Probably the case is the same here.
I ran at least 4 or 5 blocks, and eventually caught a taxi, now lost. I was anxious when the taxi driver left the well lit main street and took me down a side street en route to the hotel For a moment I panicked and worried the taxi driver was somehow one of them.
Now I've come back to my room and thought of changing hotels. Maybe in the morning I'll leave. I would like to go home tonight. I no longer feel safe in Athens. The honeymoon is over. I see every group of Greek  men as uncivilized thieves and rodents. Standing with a pack of humans closing, with blood lust in their eyes on all sides, swirling defending myself, looking for an opening to escape, I missed the days of rapiers but mostly I wanted a much more sizeable weapon and the right to kill in self defence.  The words, "if I had a rocket launcher," from a well known Canadian song, came to mind
Of course there are always those who say:1) Don't leave home.2) Don't go out at night3) Don't go to Greece4) Don't go to Athens5) Don't wear gold crosses.6) Don't wear any jewelry7) Don't dress well8) Don't go to foreign cities.9) Hide under the sheets10) Don't ever leave your room, not even to pee.
 At that moment I thought they were all right.

I imagine a woman would have been more mauled, perhaps gang raped on the street. I'm a big guy and I'm still apparently frightening when aroused. They clearly were intent on stripping me of my over the shoulder bag, maybe even mauling me for the money belt I was wearing. The aim of a swarming is to get the victim down and off his feet.  Then you can kick him in the head as a group and strip him.   I know if I hadn't struck the third fellow coming in for the chain, begun cursing and swirling I'd have suffered a worse fate. But I'm 60. That's old. I did run 4 or 5 blocks at a very fast clip.

And don't tell me thieves are all created by poverty. Thieves are more likely animals who haven't been house trained by their mothers. They use any excuse to justify their evil. Victor Frankl survived Auschwitz to write "Man's Search for Meaning'. This man who attacked me was healthy and fit, envious, greedy and dirty minded in heart and soul. I looked into the feral eyes of these men who were no longer human. I'd guess narcissistic entitlement, sociopath or psychopaths are more fitting words to "understand" their situation.

I'm actually just thankful I got away uninjured. i have lost only a cross and had a gold chain broken. Ganesh Nanda's Jewellers in Vancouver will repair this. Ganesh himself was robbed at gun point in his jewelry shop in Vancouver. My pride is injured and I'm ripe with resentment and just a little afraid. Thank you Lord for getting me home safe.
Having the day before visited the Meteora Monasteries founded as a place of safety from the marauding packs and thieves of the 15th Century I feel I'm having my own 21st century little personal Meteora experience .

The question is where are the high rocks to hide from the marauders and thieves today. Where would one place a monastery today to get above the thieves?

Theft, Culture and Copyright

When we were in Ottawa we were told by locals that it was a 'safe' city.  We left purchases locked in our trunk and were told that was okay.  We were told by people who lived in Ottawa that it was safe to go out at night.  A poll was just released on "most liveable cities'. Apparently, Ottawa was #1, Vancouver #56.  Alot of different criteria goes into the poll not just safety from theft but that's implicit in the 'liveability' of a city.
Obviously if there are rules, the people need them. There's no commandment 'Thou Shalt Breath".  In the 10 Commandments the Jewish people are told by God according to Moses , Thou shalt not steal.' One imagines Moses had a problem with theiving Jews.  Given that laws have been enacted all over the world against theft it's not just a Jewish problem but a human problem.  Christians certainly kept that commandment in their Bibles. Yet in terms of priorities it was the Jews that first put it on their top 10 chart.  Other cultures don't have  "Thou Shalt Not Steal" in their top 10.
Stealing was the problem that Westerners encountered when they first came to North America.  The First Nations people were great theives. It was a major problem that brought on much of the war.  It might well be said that the White Man was 'stealing' when he moved onto the Red Man's land but the Red Man at that time had no concept of 'land ownership' on an individual basis. Their 'land ownership' was still tribal.  In feudal times in Europe the same thing occurred, the chief or lord of any territory owning all the land all the people being related to him.  Yet the problem of stealing that's repeatedly written about is the theft of tools and clothing and personal items.  Within the tribal society there was prohibition against taking the chief's headdress for instance but it was alright to steal a foreigner's knife. Property considerations existed around medicine man's tools but this 'tribal' condition didn't extend across the boundaries to outsiders.
It's possible to see the beginning of stealing behaviour in young children. A 5 year old and a 3 year old playing. The 5 year old takes the 3 year olds toy.  The 3 year old cries.  The 5 year old is triumphant. I can't say for sure without more extensive research than I'm able to do at this moment but I would believe this reaction a 'normal' reaction which I've seen cross cultural and believe indicates that at the time the 5 year old took the 3 year old's toy the 3 year old considered it her property. I watch my dog playing this game of 'theft'. He knows he's taking the cats toy from her.
So theiving to my mind is inherrently associated with a knowledge of a) somehow that the other person is hurt b) some element of feeling good and powerful c) a sense that a taboo has been broken in someway.  I believe that developmentally children and societies have a concept of property and possession.  Even if I'm 'renting' a motorcycle I'm not going to be happy if you take it from me. I'l be even less happy and show it if you even touch my Harley Davidson that I worked hard and long to be able to buy and own outright.
Bullies, dogs and children steal.
So why do Kings, Queens, Leaders of State, Religious Leaders,  Adults and others steal?
What stops them?
Well, the bully always says, "I steal because I can".  The powerful lead unrestricted lives.  Indeed the admonition among the powerful against stealing is principally "don't get caught".  Caught by who?  First the person who you are stealing from? Secondly any authority that might disapprove of stealing.
It's very easy for those who don't believe in God or an afterlife because they have less likelihood of getting caught eventually. Unfortunately for them they live lives of paranoia as a consequence because in their world view, quite likely, everyone is a potential thief.  Even in Christianity, the thief on the cross beside Jesus gets to go to heaven by simply believing in him. That's why the Italian Catholic Mafia families liked to have a priest handy in hope that a last moment confession would wipe out their lifelong history of theft and rape, murder and mayhem.  What silly superstitious men these were?
When as a kid I tried to steal my brothers stuff he was older and bigger and punched me.  Therefore if I wanted to take something of his I had to do it 'sneekily'.
In the pagan anaimalism religions the rules against theft aren't as clear as Judeo Christian  "Thou shalt not steal".  Instead they're fairly nebulous.  A person whose animal sign is a chipmunk or crow wouldn't be faulted for stealing bright shiny things. That's what chipmunks and crows do. It's in their nature.  Indeed the notion of change in many cultures and religions denies the capacity to learn or alter behaviour of members.  A person is born good or bad, a theif or not a theif. Fate versus free will dictates how much a person can change or learn.  Multi culturalism sounds nice on the surface but in the nitty gritty there's serious potential for problems.
In that case chipmunks and crows shouldn't be given jobs in banks.  Yet in our society in which there is a requirement for assimiliation to some degree we have rules against discrimination.  Yet we are quite happy to discriminate against a crow or chipmunk after they have stolen been caught, done time, and now have a criminal record that denies them work in any place where theiving would be a concern.
So theiving even if it is in one's nature is restrained by oneself in face of greater power. My dog is likely to steal from the cat but being a cockapoo won't steal from his great dane friend if the great dane holds a toy and growls.
But in Vancouver I can't leave anything in my car.  Thieves will and have broken in repeatedly and stolen things. The insurance folk are very loathe to replace the lost items, blame me for my stupidity, everyone knows Vancouver is a city of thieves, and hikes up my insurance premiums.
When I was in Costa Rica I was told the same about leaving things in my car.  Lonely Planet the travel guide often tells tourists in a variety of places that they should beware of leaving any wealth where it can be taken and even says that one should be ware of wearing jewelry.  In some places in the world people have had their fingers cut off by theieves in public places in snatch and grab moments all for the sake of the ring.
Many rich Americans I've heard are increasingly afraid to travel to lots of places in the world for fear of being kidnapped, kidnapping and selling the person back, being a profittable form of theft.
There are also people who think it's perfectly acceptable and culturally right to steal peoples hearts and kidneys. Naturally the person who was using their heart and kidneys at the time consider this a cultural affront.
In contrast there are poor places in the world where despite terrible poverty I've not felt I should fear for my life bcause I was carrying an expensive camera. I felt this way in parts of Bombay (now Mombai) I visitted. Yet in Mexico City I felt the theives were always watching me and my camera.
It's not surprising that 'cutting off hands' was once the treatment for theives.  Kleptomania is a disease category that's very difficult to treat. It's thought that the parents of kleptomaniacs denied their children love and now those adult children  are taking things to fill the gap.  Others argue  that their brain development isn't normal. The research around kleptomania could well be used as a template to understanding common theives, not loved as children, brain missing some part necessary for mature social behaviour as a start.
In one city in the United States everyone is required by law to own a gun. As a result of that this city has the least break and entry and theft in the country.  Theives are as opportunistic as my dog.  They're naughty animals rather than big lions.
There's a lot to do with the 'belief' systems which support 'entitlement'.  The idea that the rich are idle rich and came by their wealth as bullies and theives makes it right somehow for me to be a little theif. Philosopher Dr. Johnson, paraphased by Bob Dylan, said 'steal a little and they put you in jail, steal alot and they make you king'.  Being rich doesn't stop one from stealing either.  Rich men and women have often been caught stealing shiny items in shopping malls. Others walk away with things with an attitude of "I dare you to stop me."  A local former Member of Parliament is forever stealing locally by bullying special treatment and extra 'perks' claiming it their right.
All those who are filled with 'self pity' are potentially at risk for stealing from others because they believe others 'owe' them.
As Canadians who respect "multi-culturalism' I think we should make a concerted effort to investigate immigrant attitudes around thieving.  I know the rules are very clear with Christians who made the laws and constitutions of this society but I'm not sure if a person associated with some odd sect from another part of the world agrees with me that "Thou Shalt Not Steal" means "Thou Shalt Not Steal" from anyone not just members of your sect. This is the law that the Hell's Angels goes by.   As a tribe they feel it's okay to steal from me but not to steal from one another.  Robin Hood of old was all in favour of stealing from the sheriff but he wouldn't steal from Friar Tuck.  Communists like the present Chinese feel perfectly good about stealing from Capitalists like the present Americans.
Now the matter gets even more complicated because we're looking at the notion of 'intellectual property'.  If I write a book and spend 20 years doing it, or make a movie or compose a symphony, do you have the right to take that and distribute it on mass.  If your ideas about stealing weren't too clear about whether to steal your neighbours power tools to build your own house then it's not likely you are going to respect 'copywrite'.
So questions which need to be asked are 'under what conditions do you think its right to steal?
From whom is it okay to steal?
Should there be a death penalty for thieves?
Should all theives be offered the same treatments which have been beneficial for kleptomaniacs.  New medications following on the original success with SSRI's have been shown to reduce kleptomania.
Should the families and tribes of those who steal be punished , because some cultures haven't developed a sense of 'individualism' and the individual as such caught stealing is really nothing but an agent for the family or tribes
Should bankers like those at Goldman Sacks be allowed to keep their bonuses?  Or should all executives of the recent white collar crimes have their pictures posted everywhere so that we recognise them and avoid them. This was found to be an effective strategy dealing with pedophiles and might well work with theiving bankers.
In the end, Thou Shalt Not Steal was seen in studies of 'cultural evolution' as evidence of a higher cultural development because theft caused war and unhappiness. Cultures which were considered 'toilet trained' as such agreed with the golden rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you".  "Treat others as you want to be treated".   That's why there are laws against theft.   My dog knows he shouldn't do it. It's in his nature and I've been able to stop him from taking the cat's things with training. It's not easy.  But it's certainly going to be necessary if we're going to have a society which encourages genius. Right now we have a society which encourages bullies.
We can't all live in Ottawa either.