A Stitch in Haste

"He is the man who became a symbol of the idea that need, not achievement, is the source of rights, that we don't have to produce, only to want, that the earned does not belong to us, but the unearned does. He became a justification for every mediocrity who, unable to make his own living, has demanded the power to dispose of the property of his betters, by proclaiming his willingness to devote his life to his inferiors at the price of robbing his superiors. ... Until men learn that of all human symbols, Robin Hood is the most immoral and the most contemptible, there will be no justice on earth and no way for mankind to survive."
--Atlas Shrugged

Dilbert creator Scott Adams, usually an extremely insightful blogger, is a bit off his game today:

Let's say you're the butler to a billionaire who lives alone. The billionaire dies in his sleep. You know he owns a large piece of jewelry that no one else has seen, and you have access to it.

If you steal the piece of jewelry, sell it, and give the money to an African charity, you can feed an entire village for a year. The village would otherwise starve. If you don't steal the jewelry, it will go to his surviving family who has so much money they won't care about it.

Obviously it is illegal to steal the jewelry and feed the starving village in Africa. But do you have a moral obligation to commit the crime for the greater good?

And if so, do you likewise have a moral obligation to steal anything else you can get your hands, from dead billionaires or living neighbors, if you can use the stolen property for the greater good?

Here is the response I posted:

I refuse to believe that you are only now discovering the non-viability of utilitarianism.

Let's say the butler tells his friend of his plan. The friend agrees in principle, but believes that curing cancer is "more better good" than fighting poverty in Africa. Is he permitted to steal the jewelry from the butler?

More importantly, should we put it up to a popular vote?

This is only difficult to people who want to justify theft. No one else.

Discuss.