I was once in a Walgreens in New Orleans, waiting on other members of the party to finish shopping, and someone walked in, filled a backpack from one shelf in u

I was once in a Walgreens in New Orleans, waiting on other members of the party to finish shopping, and someone walked in, filled a backpack from one shelf in under 30 seconds, and walked straight back out again. I looked to the registers, and saw that one of the cashiers had also seen the whole thing, apparently doing nothing. It felt a little odd to realize that I didn't feel like I owed Walgreens anything in that moment, not even to report what I saw. At the time, I really identified with the scene in the 2002 Spider-Man movie when PP steps aside for the wrestling venue robber. Go on, li'l Robin Hood; stick it to The Man and be well. My relationship with Walgreens has always been purely transactional; they did once have an opportunity to upgrade it, back when I lived in Chicago, but chose not to. The money that goes into their registers gets sent to Deerfield, and from there on to the shareholders. The merchandise that walks out the door presumably stays local. So why should the cashiers care? They're only hurt if the whole store shuts down. An entity like that would not do well on the honor system, I think. Walgreens isn't even a person to me. If they won't support my community at even a minimal level, by hiring one local to mind the store, I don't feel particularly motivated to keep their operating costs low out of some sense of goodwill. And I don't have qualms against stealing from robots. If you want me to not steal, on the basis of my own honor, you need to show me the person that would be harmed if I did. If they are all anonymous, and far away, it just doesn't feel as much like stealing. But that real live employee, who may be getting only $10/hour, suffices entirely, even if they just sit there and watch as I check myself out at a kiosk. If I steal, and the store shuts down, that real person loses a part of their livelihood. Like corporate loyalty, "honor" is a two-edged sword. To benefit from the honor of others, the business must cultivate honor of its own. Walgreens hasn't build up enough for me to care. And they did bribe government customers with kickbacks, and murder that homeless guy in Hollywood, and back Theranos.