Don't steal my tools
- Thread starter jensputzier
- Start date
hifi_hokie
Well-known member
AlchemyMetalworks
Well-known member
You don't get it. People actually made an effort to COMMUNICATE back then.
The message was more about moral courage and less about illegality. There is a strong subliminal undercurrent in the above sign that the DECENT people should stick together and the wrongdoers should be burdened with the shame of their actions.
That was back when a man's word and his actions were still valued.
It amazes me how many people equate moral with legal. They aren't the same at all. There are laws which are immoral, and there are moral things that are illegal.
Nowadays all we care about is liability and proof of guilt. Without those, it's a free for all. Bad guys walk around with their heads hung high and decent people mumble under their breath saying "What can you do?"...this sign is proof that it wasn't always that way.
People used to actually look out for eachother and bolster themselves. Decency flourished. If only people could wrap their mind around such a concept and bring it back in fashion!
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AlchemyMetalworks
Well-known member
No, the decent people know stealing is wrong. It's the fact that the union/trade/company is reinforcing the idea that shaming wrongdoers is actually SUPPORTED.
Makes a huge difference in morale and workplace atmosphere. Scumbags won't stay long in an environment like that, they get weeded out fast or find someplace where that **** will be tolerated.
richfinn
Well-known member
Ironically, the overall literacy rate was likely a lot less.
You would be shocked, all my English Grandparents from poor backgrounds were avid readers, could produce beautiful handwriting and do any kind of math calculation without the aid of a calculator and recite all kinds of poetry rhymes/songs etc.
Many kids in Britain nowadays are incomprehensible, and can barely read and write, forget basic maths.
Our education system has collapsed
MartyO
Well-known member
I want to steal that sign!
eddyyy302
Well-known member
HERE, HERE!!! You and I could be friends, I feel the same way on the issue and when I speak about it, no one seems to understand!
Dan
bdkruger1
Banned
You would be shocked, all my English Grandparents from poor backgrounds were avid readers, could produce beautiful handwriting and do any kind of math calculation without the aid of a calculator and recite all kinds of poetry rhymes/songs etc.
Many kids in Britain nowadays are incomprehensible, and can barely read and write, forget basic maths.
Our education system has collapsed
Same holds true in the states.
PCO6
Well-known member
Canada two. Sorry, I meant to ... or is it too? I know it's won of them.
justanengineer
Well-known member
It reminds me of the military, where this attitude is very much supported and encouraged, and yes the dirtbags do get weeded out relatively fast. If you get the masses to NOT IGNORE the seemingly petty crimes, the world gets much easier.
Very nice sign btw. Is that an original or repop? If someone makes a repop of it I just might have to add it to my wall.
AlchemyMetalworks
Well-known member
That's exactly where I developed that notion. We police ourselves and eachother, very rarely do things progress to the point that the MPs get involved.
People are too passive and don't want the responsibility of being actively involved in their day-to-day community...be that the culture of work, their neighborhood, their schools, or whatever else is important to them.
They shuffle that responsibility onto "authorities" and then wonder how/where/when/why those authorities got corrupt. It happens because those "authorities" grabbed what power they could once that initial power was given to them.
The only way to avoid those scenarios is to be a very active individual in the course of your life...I'm not talking political activism or picketing, I'm talking about simple things like not allowing dirtbags to get a foothold in the first place.
Sigged.
I noticed that it is held in place by 10 fasteners. Probably to stop people like you.
MartyO
Well-known member
People back then were actually MORE literate, as schools actually taught people how to read, write, and comprehend the English language. This is not the case these days. Put that sign in front of a recent college graduate and ask him to read it, AND tell you what is means. I'll bet many can't comprehend the meaning of the sign. I deal with the results of government schools every day, teaching 18-30 year olds. It is very disconcerting, at times.
Plus, people then had real respect for each other and their property. They actually lived the Golden Rule. People understood there were consequences to be paid for their actions. It is indeed a different world today, and NOT for the better.
Plus, people then had real respect for each other and their property. They actually lived the Golden Rule. People understood there were consequences to be paid for their actions. It is indeed a different world today, and NOT for the better.
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ZRX61
Well-known member
I think you'l find that's just in Yorkshire
Someone need to get hold of one of the companies that make the repro signs & have them do a run of those..
HERE, HERE!!! You and I could be friends, I feel the same way on the issue and when I speak about it, no one seems to understand!
Dan
Me three!
William Payne
Well-known member
Awesome sign, being a moral man (or women) deffinitly goes beyond laws. Its respect for those around you and their things and knowing that whats not yours is not yours.
Thats an awesome sign.
Thats an awesome sign.
D Force
Well-known member
I have to admit...that made me laugh!
W650Mike
Well-known member
There are ten holes - but only four P2 screws. 15 seconds or less with a cordless.
...But I side with our resident Alchemist.
So I stole the image instead!
(Right click; Save Picture as...)
...But I side with our resident Alchemist.
So I stole the image instead!
(Right click; Save Picture as...)
machine_punk
Well-known member
I generally find that most people do not mind stealing something, but almost everyone minds being called a thief. The general feeling is that there is no shame in the stealing, only in the getting caught. The culture in the U.S. today is that stealing is cool, IF you can get away with it (or, more accurately, the more you can steal and not be caught, the better).
There is a general attitude of wanting something for nothing in the world today. Which, in the end, just cheapens everything you get 'for nothing.' I absolutely abhor people who steal...not necessarily because they have taken something of mine, but that they have reduced the value of something I worked hard for. The guy who steals my $2,000 guitar, and sells it on the street for $150 for drug money, literally and figuratively de-values the guitar. He puts a cheap price tag on an expensive item he did not work to earn...and does it to 'get his next drug fix.' If, however, someone stole my expensive guitar and used it to play beautiful music, I 'get it.' I may not like having my guitar stolen, but at least he respects the value of the guitar.
I lived in Japan for three years recently. There is a subway train which makes a loop around the center of Tokyo. If you left a laptop computer on the package shelf of the train, the only reason it would be gone when that train came back to your stop an hour later would be that someone took it to the authorities to have it returned to you. Japanese people are taught from a very young age that theft is wrong and, "If you didn't put it there, leave it alone, it isn't yours."
Kev
William Payne
Well-known member
Damn right!, stealing is allways wrong. Now we have all had occasions where we find stuff in a gutter or whatever or a coin fallen in the street, thats not really stealing but do the right thing if you find something valuable and the owner comes looking for it give it back.
AlchemyMetalworks
Well-known member
The last part is only partially defined. It's not simply the matter of an object losing its intrinsic value through theft and being sold below market value, it's the matter of depriving you of time you will never recover.
In our society we trade our time for money. You can make more money, but you can never recover time. In essence, stealing of goods is depriving a person of their life. While they have not taken your mortal life, they have taken an object that is representative of a period of time you have invested to obtain it.
This is why stealing should not be acceptable in a capitalist society...depriving a man of his life is abhorrent.
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That's a neat sign. Back in the day, if you got caught stealing, there were reprecussions. Today a lawyer could get somebody off because they couldn't read the sign. They'll place the blame on the teacher for not teaching them how to read.