Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino: The Leftists Who Think Stealing Is Great |
Politics
Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino: The Leftists Who Think Stealing Is Great
Actually, shoplifting is bad.
Robby Soave | 4.24.2026 11:05 AM
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Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino (New York Times via @PirateWires on X)
Stealing is bad, and you shouldn't do it. It's really as simple as that. Children understand this, even from a young age, and it's taught to them by their parents, grandparents, teachers, and other mentors. Some people, of course, find themselves in desperate circumstances, and are forced to steal to survive. We may empathize with them, and we may even decide that their situation mitigates the blameworthiness of the offense. That doesn't change the wrongness of stealing, though. If you catch your kids snatching a candy bar from the grocery store checkout line, you invariably punish them. You don't commend them for striking a blow against capitalist oppression.
Enter leftists Hasan Piker and Jia Tolentino, who have been roundly and deservedly mocked on social media after participating in a podcast interview for The New York Times titled "The Rich Don't Play By the Rules. So Why Should I?" Already, we are on shaky ground here, since the headline—a direct quote from host Nadja Spiegelman—positions Piker, Tolentino, and Spiegelman as a trio of people that should be contrasted with the rich. This is ridiculous: All three are members of the wealthy, successful, cultural elite. Spiegelman is a culture editor for the Times, an author, a cartoonist, and the daughter of legendary cartoonist Art Spiegelman (creator of Maus, a well-known........