It's Not Stealing if You Have a Good Reason

Did you know that it is morally acceptable to steal? Apparently there is a fine line between when it is okay to steal and when you should be thrown in jail for breaking the law.  Sometimes the line becomes fuzzy because not every situation is black and white.  So we can make separate rulings on a case by case basis.   People believe that there are different levels of theft.  Are the laws of society up for discussion or are they set in stone?  Isn’t stealing, stealing? 

When I was about five years old I went to the ninety nine cent store with my Aunty.   As we walk into the store and turn down the next isle, I see an overwhelming amount of multicolored flowers lining a whole wall.  I walk up close to the flowers to feel their velvet, and satin petals.  I especially liked a certain purple flower because it had a sweet perfume-like scent.  I happened to see one bud lying on the ground so I picked it up and tucked it into my pocket.  Later, my mother found the crumpled flower in my pants when she was doing laundry.  She asked where it came from and I told her that I found it at the store.  I didn’t see the big deal in taking the flower. It’s only a flower right?  My mother told me that it was a sin as well as against the law to steal no matter what the object was or what type of situation.  She made it easy for me to see that stealing was not debatable.  This concept is easily understandable because a five year old grasped the idea. 

Later I went back to the laundry room to see if my flower was still there and I smelled the aroma of the once sweet flower.  Now the scent made my stomach churn because I felt guilty about what I had done.  I learned my lesson once and for all that there is a price to pay if I want to have something from the stores because it automatically doesn’t belong to me.  I believe that the concept of the American dream is stretched a little bit too far into the idea of egocentrism where we are supposed to get anything and everything that we crave.  There is a nice idea that hopes and dreams can take you anywhere but we can’t fall overboard and think selfishly to award worth where none is merited. 

Children are growing up reading and watching cartoons like Robin Hood which exhibit the “good” kind of stealing.  If as children we learn that the laws are there to for us to follow then we will not fall down a slippery spiral.  Theft is breaking the law no matter which angle you perceive the situation.  We will step into a messy glob of manure if we have a mindset that stealing is not universally bad.  The TV shows, cartoons and “liberal” thinking should not lead us into the direction of lax reasoning.  On the contrary, we should hold firm to the morals instilled in us from the bible and strive to raise the bar on the justice system because the law is there for our protection.  

The World of Creativity is like a Beach

Picture a beach with an aqua blanket of ocean rising and falling against the grainy sand stretching to the horizon as far as you can see.  This is your playground.  Where do you start?  Do you jump and dive in the cool waves first or do you build a giant sand castle on the sand?  There is so much to do and it might be a bit overwhelming.  This can be the same dilemma that we face when we enter junior high and high school then continue on to college with our writing.

The five paragraph structure has been bashed to death by college kids and professors because there is no room to branch out and develop your ideas.  It is nearly impossible to place our abstract ideas into nice, neat, and simple boxes.  Five to be exact. 

But, there has to be some kind of foundation when we enter into the world of expressing yourself with a pen and paper or a computer for that matter.  The five paragraphs teach us that there is a beginning middle and end to every paper.  It also helps us recognize a way to organize our thoughts so that we sound coherent.  For example, if you decide to build the giant sand castle at the beach, you start with a solid base of tightly packed sand and water to support the rest of the fancy towers.  Same with writing, you have to start at the bottom with learning how to tether the English language into an organized, compound idea. 

Next comes the time for the door ways, turrets, and jewels, seashells and as many towers as you see fit.  The bedazzled paper can come from a strong foundation of writing in junior high and high school.  Once we step foot in the collegiate world we add as much decoration and depth because we are in control of our thoughts.  The Professors trust us to communicate our breadth of ideas without much pushing and shoving in regards of paragraphs.  Instead we can call them “chunks” as Thomas Allbaugh explains in Pretexts for Writing. Now we can organize the “chunks” in any way that makes sense.  We have had enough experience to understand how to persuade or argue our point.

 Since the five paragraph form is the base of our writing where do I go from here?   Well, it isn’t so much the structure as the how, what, and who.  The topic should be unique and interesting.  Make sure that you have the audience in mind when writing so that in the end, the final product will do its job.  Also, the detail, description and visualization are key because when you engage the reader, they are more likely to actually read it. Lastly, your thoughts should be well developed and concise.  Like the over used quote says,” Keep it sweet and simple.”  When encountering a beach of creativity we should embrace the opportunity with open arms and show the world that our best sand castle can change the way we view the beach.