Setting Safeguards for Spending, Sharing and Not Being Stolen From..
When hearing that someone had something stolen from the back of their truck during a short walk, a suggestion was made to let people pitch in to replace the item. The person felt most people have enough financial commitments that would not be ideal...or that others may need donations more than he did. Here's some of my reflection on the matter...to find some meaning in the strange anonymous assault.
Some comments begrudged character stealing the item, and likely it was done 'for no good reason...' but maybe the person was truly desperate in terms of looking to sell something of value. The idea was offered of creating more gifting circles and a culture of people being able to borrow things or money to obtain what they need could help decrease episodes of stealing.
In small communities, there can be a swift pipeline if someone is known to steal or be dishonest. That might be shared with youth and others early and often so people do not go down that route and not realize there will be consequences. Sadly a few folks chimed in that likely stealing is done to afford drugs or other uncouth reasons...So to round out the discussion and take it in other directions more people could relate to, I shared the followed...
That we have talked this over thus far...from your initial sharing the sense of disbelief and indignant upset ...to others chiming in and my reflections..the ripple effect to help people think twice about these kinds of matters--whether they've been a victim or have taken something or not returned something (or broken or lost something of value...) all likely could be part of the 'reason behind why these things happen...'
One person lost 50 dollars and felt bad about that, maybe it won't ever be found. Another heard of that and had found 20 and felt that the person should get it, so gave it to someone who then delivered it to the first person. Random acts of kindness can be nice 'wild cards...'
The person who found the 20 had just given a person 20 dollars to go to a special dinner, but that dinner got canceled due to weather and the recipient got to keep the 20. The person giving was not exactly rollin' in the dough but got some work before too long to make up for that bit of generosity...and had received other gifts over time so felt giving was a healthy balance to the kind of receiving that had happened in both rural and urban settings.
All of this keeps us more alert and tuned in to our human condition, ups and downs...I know someone who paid off a fee for a stranger who seemed on hard times...and turned out he'd had a few and though he wanted to thank the person and maybe pay them back, he then harassed the person... all in the span of a half hour.
The harassed person didn't regret trying to help him out in the end even though it was a real stretch financially...and so got the person thinking about Not Being Ready to Consider helping someone directly like that...to check impulse giving (or spending...) something the person had been working on by checking with a friend before spending money.
YNAB, You Need A Budget, has a similar plan for people to chart where their money will go when they earn it or get it...and help two or more people have a good plan and record of stated goals and follow-through.
I'd add to that no one should sell or buy stocks without careful review with a couple of others to check any 'impulse transactions' or giving into pressure to buy anything whether online, on the phone, from a friend or family member etc...Same with loaning money... Legitimate requests could be reviewed by a few people and a written plan be put in place to keep things clear (and have a valid way to try to collect...but likely no one should loan money they can't afford to give away...especially small amounts (under 200 or so..)
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