@IcedOatLatte, it’s a fair question, the answer to which depends a lot on context.
Shoplifting- probably not moral but depends on the circumstances of the person doing the shoplifting tbh (if someone going hungry steals food because they have no money and can’t find anywhere else to get food from it’s somewhat debatable) and the shop they are stealing from. generally, if it’s a very tangible product with a reasonable market value based on the cost of manufacture, transport, storage I would say that’s typically morally wrong as well as illegal, occasionally, if someone is desperate I might think it should remain illegal but I would struggle to say it was morally wrong. In addition to the shop owner and the chain investors there is also a fair chance that this behaviour with have a negative impact on people who work in the shop. They may feel guilty for not stopping it, they’ll probably feel disempowered and helpless, maybe frightened. The security guards will definitionally have failed to do their jobs so it’s a bad day for them. If a shop deals with a lot of theft it could increase the general level of tension and suspicion between staff and customers.
Bank Fraud- probably morally wrong, but if they were stealing from the bank and not the customers accounts, I’m not sure I’d be shedding any tears. 2021 was a bumper year for UK bank profit, with some banks seeing a more than 400% increase in profit compared to the previous period last year Banks are doing just fine article . Sure, legally they are allowed to make this sort of ridiculous level of profit, but when it’s happening in the context of a time when full-time nurses are using foodbanks during a deadly pandemic, I’m allowed to not be morally outraged if some sneaky fraudsters keep the banks on their toes. They are essentially legally extracting this money from us/the wider system, in an immoral and detestable way.
Non-payment of child support- this would be morally wrong 999 times out of 1000, or more. A child depends on their parents to access food, clothing, shelter, security and enjoyment in life. A parent may not have chosen the circumstances under which the child support is necessary but they have a responsibility to care for their child regardless of their feelings towards the other parent. Non-payment of child support can have other significant negative impacts, it can lead a child to not have their material needs met, and it can lead them to believe one or both parents don’t care about them enough to ensure this happens. Child support which is inconsistently provided limits the amount of planning with that money the primary caregiver can do thus limiting it’s utility. It can be a means of continuing a controlling or abusive dynamic after the end of a relationship, including threats of withholding or delaying payment if the paying parent doesn’t get their way.
Energy supply is of course not without costs to the energy supplier. However, in the first quarter of 2022 it has already been a bumper year for profits for all the major energy companies with BP for example making more than double the profits of the same period last year Uk Energy companies laughing all the way to the bank article
This is partly because they are massively under regulated, they are massively under regulated because they have paid billions in lobbying all over the world for decades. Look into UK political leaders for example, most of them are connected to the oil industry (or else one of the other 5 lobby industries) , all parties get donations from energy companies, it’s the water they swim in. Whether it’s red or blue, energy usually wins whoever gets elected. Here’s info on lobbying expenditure What industries spend on political lobbying in the US by industry. They don’t just lobby for generally favourable tax arrangements and naked profiteering either they actively lobby to slow down/stop action on climate change- they are very successful at this, that is part of the reason the world’s on fire right now Oil companies lobbying to stop climate change action article
It is not because we don’t know how to fix it, can’t afford to fix it, don’t have the technology already in existence to fix it. It’s because everyone at the top of the system owes their wealth and power to ignoring the problem.
Do Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak really strike you as the most appropriate and qualified people to run a complex country in crisis like the UK? Really? Are they there because they’re the best of the best, or even just the best of the Torys? Maybe! or maybe the fact that Uber-Rishi Sunak was gifted one of the safest conservative seats in the country for his first foray into politics, and Liz Truss previously worked for huge companies like Shell and will probably work for them again after being PM too should ring a few alarm bells.
Your neighbours “stealing” electricity because the energy company have failed to get their act together on billing are, I would argue, not the moral offenders here. Certainly not when you compare them to who they are “ripping off”. Energy companies and their political beneficiaries are stealing what belongs to all of us so they can bathe in gold and play god at the expense of literally everyone on the planet. If they forget to bill someone for a couple of years, I’m confident they can soak it up, the two year bill is probably in the region of the cost of the of wine just one of their mid level execs will have with dinner tonight.