Right and Wrong

The older I get, the more I realize how ambiguous the concepts of right and wrong really are. For one, those that get to think about what is right vs. what is wrong are inherently privileged enough to be able to consider such abstract questions in the first place.

As an example, consider a single mother shopping at a grocery store. She has zero dollars to her name, and her infant hasn’t received any food in over 24 hours. Would you consider it wrong for her to steal a pack of baby formula?

Legally, we consider such actions wrong, because condoning them would obviously set a precedent that is incompatible with a civilized society. If one person can steal, everyone can steal, and now there is no longer a functioning economy. But from a moral or ethical standpoint, is that mother wrong for stealing? Consider the alternative – she would have no other option to provide food for her child, likely resulting in the child starving. That’s also clearly wrong, right? So where do we draw the line?

Back to the point of privilege: there are some that may say that, well, the woman should’ve just gotten a job or found another way to make money to afford food for her baby. To which I would say, it’s usually not that simple. In my experience, the people that take such stances tend to come from a position of privilege not even remotely close to that of this hypothetical woman. That doesn’t necessarily make their perspective incorrect, but it does make it glaringly incomplete.

I find this ambiguity arise all throughout my life, especially in friendships and relationships. Our notion of right and wrong is largely a function of what experiences we have been through and what resources we do (and don’t) have access to. If I saw a billionaire stealing baby formula, I’d think of them as a scumbag. But for the single mother with an underfed infant, I’d get it.