[themartorana]

Actually, not if you're a government. The last time they didn't follow the letter of the law, we started torturing people again because we were really hungry.

Most of our laws that exist at extremes (no torture, Geneva Convention) exist as a reaction against what did happen the last time a stressful situation was lawless, and a rational check against the next time stress brings up a possible irrational reaction.

Stealing food should always be a crime - it let's us then consider the circumstances surrounding the action, and forgive the crime. (This is the basic argument against mandatory sentencing. It removes empathy, which makes us less than human.)