Philosophy Now Forum

ForgedinHell wrote:Bankruptcy is legalized theft.

as a lawyer you should know better

theft is a crime

failure to pay debts is a tort

the two are not identical

Kayla wrote:

ForgedinHell wrote:Bankruptcy is legalized theft.

as a lawyer you should know better

theft is a crime

failure to pay debts is a tort

the two are not identical

Failure to pay a debt may be a crime. Writing an insufficient check may be a crime. It depends on the circumstances. AND, because I am an attorney, I also know that an act may be both a crime and a tort. There are also civil theft torts, etc.

In any event, I was writing philosophically. Not paying someone money owed is stealing from them. The fact the thief uses the state to achieve the theft instead of a gun does not change things.

ForgedinHell wrote:
In any event, I was writing philosophically. Not paying someone money owed is stealing from them. The fact the thief uses the state to achieve the theft instead of a gun does not change things.

so using your reasoning

if failure to pay debts is morally indistiguishable from theft

and if we put people in jail for theft

we should have debtors prisons