Steal to understand: an unobvious road to reasonable consumption.

When engaging in shoplifting (I’m talking about those who steal for themselves, to save money, not for resale), we eventually begin to approach this matter intelligently. Unfortunately, this understanding comes only with experience—after you’ve dragged a pile of unnecessary junk to your home and arrive at… conscious consumption. Yes, it sounds strange, almost like some kind of scam, but believe me, that’s how it is.

How does it happen at first? You might take anything from stores that’s poorly secured: trinkets, some nonsense that then collects dust in corners for years, cluttering your place and all available storage spaces. But eventually, any reasonable shoplifter, if they’re not a complete hoarder, sooner or later comes to a simple thought: take only what you really need. Otherwise, your den will quickly turn into some kind of Avito branch (like eBay), and for many years. And this is where, strangely enough, the connection with conscious consumption appears. Without realizing it, you begin to steal only what you truly need in everyday life, things you will actually use.

Then the most interesting thing happens: this habit, like an infection, spreads to regular purchases. So when you finally quit this slippery slope of shoplifting (if you have the strength to break out of this pit and start living independently, without committing various crimes that blow your mind), the habit of rational consumption, oddly enough, often stays with you—it is the main consequence.

A shoplifter who has achieved the zen of mindfulness is unlikely to fall for all this fluff and won’t buy, for example, some luxury clothing. They already understand that the value of ordinary clothes is no less, that it essentially doesn’t differ from some overpriced stuff. And the same applies to a lot of electronics, some food products, and many other things. Because such a person, thanks to the ability to steal without guaranteed consequences, has gained, damn it, experience! Experience owning both expensive things and simpler ones. And this is perhaps the only way to become a truly conscious consumer, and in some ways even an ascetic, especially when you realize how our unrestrained consumption provokes overproduction and mountains of unsold goods in landfills.

And this is where it becomes particularly unfortunate for those who can’t afford even temporarily to use some expensive, quality, luxury items. They simply don’t have the opportunity to compare what it’s like to own what they currently have with what’s inaccessible due to their wallet or social status. Yet this is so important for beginning to consume consciously.

• What are we talking about here?
• About how this manifests differently in a thief compared to ordinary people!

Through the turning point when you suddenly realize that not all expensive things are worth the risks you take to steal them. The first signs of this understanding ring when you get something truly quality, but the risk of getting caught was minimal. And here it dawns on you: high price and high risk don’t always mean quality, and there’s no guarantee such an item will bring you more joy than one you swiped with almost no risk.

Sometimes an interesting shift in perception occurs: you become saturated not so much with expensive things as with their variety. You have choices, and finally, your closet accumulates enough items to cover basic needs in food, clothing, or even toys for children that you yourself lacked in childhood. And at some point, this endless race for wealth, for excessive consumption, simply fades away on its own.

But it can be different. Sometimes a person has no stable housing, no family, no close people who could say: “Hey, you’re doing great, you’ve achieved a lot!” There’s no one to confirm that the experience has been gained, and you are, in general, a happy enough person. What then? How do you close your consumer gestalts, reconcile with yourself, and finally become happier? After all, conscious consumption isn’t just about things; it’s primarily about an inner sense of peace, about feeling that you’ve succeeded in this life. Sometimes, alone with yourself, it’s incredibly difficult to give an adequate assessment of your achievements, your path. Most of us, no matter how you look at it, need external evaluations, someone’s opinion from the outside to understand what we’ve achieved and where we’ve stumbled. And so, when you’re alone, and you have nothing except things obtained, let’s say, not entirely honestly (and even if you’ve already moved to legal income, the inner voice still gnaws at you, not allowing you to give yourself a solid “A”), you find yourself at that very fork in the road.

This fork, like a crack in the road, arises from the contradiction between what you feel inside and what society dictates. On one hand, you, albeit through theft, have come to conscious consumption. You’ve learned to value things, stopped chasing excesses, found some inner peace, understanding that your basic needs are covered. But on the other hand, society measures success in completely different categories: stable work, family, own housing. And if you don’t have all this, no matter how you look at it, it’s difficult to gain recognition, to feel accomplished, even if there’s complete harmony inside you.

And here you stand at this fork, and you have two paths. The first is to go even deeper into yourself, to shift focus from external evaluations to internal feelings. To learn to value yourself and your achievements, even if they don’t fit into the conventional frameworks of success. To understand that the path to conscious consumption is already a huge step forward, even if made through the thorns of shoplifting. You can, for example, keep a diary, write down your small victories, focus on what brings you joy and satisfaction, even if it’s just a successfully stolen chocolate bar that brightened your evening.

The second path, which is closer to me personally, is gradual legalization. If you’re still engaged in robbing stores, then you need to gradually, step by step, strive to earn money honestly. This not only helps gain financial stability and confidence in the future but also relieves the constant fear of being caught, of that oppressive feeling that you’re living wrongly. I talk about this in more detail in another article where I examine the phenomenon of shoplifting itself.

But, as always, there is a third path, and a fourth, and many more; only you determine the boundaries of future possibilities. A path where you can use your unique experience, your understanding of the inside of consumer society, to change it. You can become a voice of reason in this insane world of rampant consumption. You can tell people the truth about how they are deceived, how they are forced to buy unnecessary things. You can create projects that will help others free themselves from dependence on things, learn to value what truly matters. You can become an activist, a fighter for a better future where people will consume consciously, not mindlessly. And this path, in my opinion, is the most worthy. Because it allows not just to reconcile with yourself and society but also to make this world at least a little better.