Piers wrote: "People steal stuff because they haven't got enough of what they want ..."

And society should accommodate those who do not have all the fast cars, intoxicating substances and electronic devices they could possibly want?

If there's one thing we learned during the 20th century, it's that the well of want is bottomless. The richest cities of the world's richest countries have citizens who consider themselves in dire need although they can get housing, safe drinking water, clothing, food, medicine and education free of charge, courtesy of their tax-paying neighbours. In fact, the most obvious outward signs of poverty in Ottawa, where I live, are obesity and heavy tobacco consumption!

Some years ago, I worked for a criminal lawyer with a large Legal Aid practice. Six months in his office showed me who Ottawa's thieves are: people overcome by sheer covetousness; individuals so lacking in marketable skills that they cannot find work to pay for what they need; and a vanishingly small minority who are bug-house crazy. Judicial punishment doesn't work with any of these groups. The covetous feel entitled to whatever they take, the unskilled need education and training, and the crazy -- well, whatever they need, our society is not equipped to provide it.

Your average youthful thief in urban Ontario is covetous. A few are in genuine need, but their requirements usually lie in areas unrelated to what they steal.