A few weeks ago, I was walking to class with someone whose name was not Madison Smith, but t whom I’ll assign that name here, for legal reasons. As we walked, I complimented her earrings. “Thanks,” she said brightly. “I stole them from Altar’d State.”
It probably goes without saying that I was a little taken aback. She had a job, and the earrings weren’t a necessity. We spent the rest of the walk discussing the ethics of casual stealing.
“Sometimes I’ll just be at the store, and I’ll be like, ‘This is overpriced!’ so I’ll just take it,” Smith told me. “I don’t think it’s the right thing to do. I just don’t think it’s necessarily morally incorrect, you know? And capitalism is super unethical, in my opinion. So stealing—even if it’s not right—is fighting The Man. It’s fighting something unethical.”
In hearing this, I was reminded of somewhere I’d heard this argument before.
2014 saw a huge boom in online accounts of stolen goods. As a 12-year-old, I was thrown by the strength and breadth of what was beginning to be called a community. I’d encounter dozens of blogs who shirked accusations in subtle ways—calling their accounts satire, for instance. They posted “hauls,” carefully arranging items by brand. They offered giveaways and advice for up-and-comers And above all, they argued that they were doing the right thing.
“Do you hate Robin Hood?” wrote one blog. “These are mega-corporations that you work for. They have enough money to pay you. They just don’t want to.”
According to Smith, East students she follows on Instagram often post about their shoplifting experiences. People turn to their “Finstas,” their secondary Instagram accounts away from the eyes of parents and college admissions officers.
I’m vexed and intrigued by the trendiness of stealing. As Smith put it, it’s the “new wave.”
Eva Buckner is a senior and the ECHO’s opinions editor and columnist. Outside of writing, she babysits and plays volleyball. She is also the vice president of East’s March For Our Lives chapter, and president of LitCon. Eva can be contacted at evahelenbuckner@gmail.com.
