Why did you bring up Batman?
First it was Harvey Dent (Nolanverse, NON-CANON Version) who said that.
Second, in the comic book series Batman: The Cult Bruce was drugged and kept in the sewers a long time. When he finally gets out during daylight, they let him out at a park where a young couple were having a picnic. He roars and scares them away and then started eating all their food because he hadn't eaten in days. Even Bruce was broken down to the point of just acting on instinct to survive and we're talking about a man here who has great control over his pain and hunger thresholds...

I found the actual pics:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A2bP-e3g2Co/U_LI--WJBFI/AAAAAAAAslg/RhUSK6BYhLE/s1600/batman%2Bis%2Byogi%2B1.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hoM8LD6o6Aw/U_LA0MXJB8I/AAAAAAAAsko/yubweWPB17o/s1600/batman%2Byogi%2B2.jpg

Based on the majority of the response and comments in this thread one can understand where all the Raiders in the Fallout universe came from

In a post apocalypse world the most dangerous animal is always man.

I think stealing is always bad.

Even if you are starving or your children are starving stealing food could make other people or other people's children starve, who am I to decide that my kids' life is more valuable than other kids' one?

And I can't tell if my action are morally justified, my morality isn't the same as other's people.

Even If I'm stealing from rich people I don't know actually how these people live: reality can actually be more complex than the just the slice I'm looking at.

Following my instinct to survive doesn't make me a better human being, it just makes worse human mankind.

If I was starving, I wouldn't even ask myself that question.

It doesn't matter, well it does, but only on the consequence side. Just do what you want to do and deal with the consequences, don't go search for deep moral meanings.

But we're not starving right now, so I might actually ask myself that question...

Any action to deliberately harm innocents for the benefit of oneself, regardless of circumstances, is evil. That is my creed.

This not necessarily continuing the restaurant example, but perhaps someone being gluttonous and purposely has more than what they need is an act just as immoral as stealing. If it's blindly obvious someone is being greedy, perhaps there is nothing wrong with stealing.

Overall, I too find the morality behind stealing to depend on the situation.

[quote name="UMyronBrah" post="24159660" timestamp="1436762914"]Why did you bring up Batman?
First it was Harvey Dent (Nolanverse, NON-CANON Version) who said that.
Second, in the comic book series Batman: The Cult Bruce was drugged and kept in the sewers a long time. When he finally gets out during daylight, they let him out at a park where a young couple were having a picnic. He roars and scares them away and then started eating all their food because he hadn't eaten in days. Even Bruce was broken down to the point of just acting on instinct to survive and we're talking about a man here who has great control over his pain and hunger thresholds...
I found the actual pics:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A2bP-e3g2Co/U_LI--WJBFI/AAAAAAAAslg/RhUSK6BYhLE/s1600/batman%2Bis%2Byogi%2B1.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hoM8LD6o6Aw/U_LA0MXJB8I/AAAAAAAAsko/yubweWPB17o/s1600/batman%2Byogi%2B2.jpg[/quotequote


That's my point even batman who was all high and mighty know

lol, ok you go steal some food and let me know how that goes. Stealing is wrong regardless if you're doing it to survive. If I were starving, you're dang right I'm going to steal some food, but it doesn't make it ok. Believe me, I've been there haha.

I suppose I could have added another option to the poll that it depends on who you're stealing from, but the main point is stealing is stealing, no matter who you steal it from.

In the Fallout universe... chances are you're stealing food from someone else whose going to be starving. What would have been interesting if Fallout 3 had a survival system was if stealing water pre-Project Purity carried a much larger karma hit. Clean water is a rare commodity and necessary to survive. But after Project Purity is activated there is little to no karmic hit and most of the time it won't even turn the target hostile because access to clean water is no longer an issue.

Ding

lol. No matter how "good" my character is, he always seems to be a kleptomaniac.

Lousy skill books that can only be acquired by stealing.

Pride doesn't put food on the table.....selling one's self, unappealing as it is, is more honest than stealing from people who probably aren't much better off.

That bothered me so much! I hope they let us read them and leave them, similar to Skyrim.