(With apologies to Robert Nozick)
Let us begin at the beginning. We stipulate that you live in a house, and in your house is a television. You own this television free and clear. One day, you go away on vacation, and I (without your permission, of course) smash in your front window, take the television, and leave. I submit that this is a clear case of theft: I have stolen your television. Your television, which is unambiguously your property, has been ferreted away in the dark of night without your consent.
Now let’s mix things up a bit and see what shakes out.
- Imagine that, instead of smashing your window, I gently opened the lock, snuck in, and took the television.
- The lock was already open when I got there; all I had to do was raise the window and go in.
- I was invited into the house to watch it while you were away, and I took the opportunity to help myself to your television.
- You never left on vacation at all; I knocked on the door, you answered it, and, while your back was turned, I made off with the television.
- I never entered the house in the first place. You brought the television home from the store, and I swiped it out of the back of your car.
- After you purchased the television, you were distracted by your phone ringing, and I grabbed the television off of the cart before you got it to the car.
- I was the clerk at the store, and, under the guise of selling you a television, I really provided a box full of sawdust and kept the television for myself.
- Instead of taking the television itself, I grabbed the money out of your hand as you attempted to pay for the television.
- I didn’t take all the money; I only grabbed about 40%.
- Instead of physically grabbing the bills out of your hand, I used electronic wizardry to debit the funds from your back account at the point of purchase.
- I didn’t wait for you to try to buy something; as soon as you attempted to deposit your paycheck in your account, I deducted 40% of it.
- I sent you a letter in the mail demanding that you send me 40% of the value of your paycheck, and explicitly listing all the horrible things I would do to you if you refused to comply.
- I sent you a letter reminding you that I expect you to send me 40% of the value of your paycheck, and, instead of listing any horrible consequences for not complying, I left it up to your imagination.
- A bunch of other people got together and voted to have me send you such a letter.
At which step of the process did this stop being the tale of a thief?