would a person who's starving to death ever follow a law preventing them from taking food? i can't believe they would. in fact, i think if a person starved to d

would a person who's starving to death ever follow a law preventing them from taking food? i can't believe they would. in fact, i think if a person starved to death when they could've just walked into a grocery story and gotten plenty to eat must have had something deeply wrong with them. i don't even think it's a matter of choice. so such a law is at odds with reality. and consider what the consequences are for the theft. maybe they get a fine. they won't pay it, of course, because they can't even pay for food. then the fines accumulate, which has no immediate effect on the thief and does nothing to stop them thieving, because if they can't pay for food then they can't pay a fine, no matter how much they owe. on the other had, they may, eventually, be thrown in prison for their crimes, where they'll get fed on the regular, which is practically encouragement to commit crimes. you could also kill them, but i feel that's problematic. if you don't punish the thief at all then, in the off chance they have the chance to get back on their feet, they won't have a pile of debt keeping them down, they won't have a criminal record because they were starving, and they won't be dead.