In need of a Moral compass - Running bandit. (Read 1203 times)

Hm, this sounds reasonable -- but are all the spectators also stealing the road closure service? Actually, you're about to convince me that they are also stealing it....

If there was an admissions charge for spectators, then yes. Otherwise, no. It's not complicated. Bandits DO take up room on the course. This year, the Beach to Beacon 10K race filled up in under two hours. A lot of people were really annoyed that they couldn't register online because everything froze with the big rush. Does that make it OK for them to just show up and run, anyway? It's already a crowded race. The race organizers need to plan for the number of people they think can be accommodated on race day. "Moral relativism" is such fun, hearing all the excuses for doing something wrong!

The End.

Don't we all wish.

Ask the RD. If the RD's down with it, then you're all good.

+1 If you don't have the nerve, desire, whatever, to ask, don't show up.

Sure it's stealing, but you'd probably never get convicted. They'd plea bargain it down to douchebaggery. Not something I'd want on my record.

Having had lengthy discussions with several Virginia prosecutors about this, I can say that in Virginia at least, as long as you are not taking any items provided (water, Gu, medals, etc), you are not stealing anything. The roads are closed to cars and not to pedestrians, so you are not trespassing. If a law enforcement officer tells you to get off the route, you have to obey, of course, but the mere fact of being on the course doesn't constitute trespass. The ethics are a whole 'nother point to argue, but the legal argument is pretty weak.

>Ask the RD. If the RD's down with it, then you're all good. I don't think he'll be sympathetic to the cause..

So there you go. Don't do it. You're asking the wrong people here. The people to ask if it is OK are the registered runners, the RD, the charity, all of the parties your decision has an impact on. It doesn't affect me.

I don't think he'll be sympathetic to the cause.. "[RD] is an attorney and counselor in private practice in Pepper Pike, Ohio, specializing in corporate, business and antitrust law. He is also a private investor and an executive in several companies throughout the country."

Why do you think these things would make him unsympathetic? My experience with most RD's is that if you ask them for special treatment that doesn't cost them any effort and doesn't bother anyone else's race experience, then they are happy to oblige. RD's are generally nice and accomodating folks: they give up their Saturday mornings to make cool stuff happen for lots of folk, generally with no compensation--unless you count doing cool stuff for other folks as a form of compensation.

"Moral relativism" is such fun, hearing all the excuses for doing something wrong!

/geeky philosopher on 'Moral relativism' as a philosophical point of view has absolutely no relation to the practice of making up excuses for doing something wrong. Moral relativism is the belief that what is right or wrong is determined historically and contextually by people and communities working through problems. It is opposed to moral absolutism which thinks that what is right or wrong is determined atemporally through a transcendental faculty of reason, through moral intuition, or by divine command.

Heh. I'm not riled up, but I did want to throw in the Planes Trains & Automobiles "overuse of the term 'fucking'" for fun. If my posts involve Peter North, I can't be *that* miffed. I really do see this as a simple thing. But like I said, I ignore my moral compass all the time, sometimes in favor of my morale compass.

This has been most educational. I haven't really heard a good argument either way and a lot of people are only reading what they want to read out of other peoples posts. I'll probably end up paying - but if not, i will be sure to wear a cup.

What would count as a good argument?