I think that there are definitely times when it is acceptable for people to break the rules. Usually, I think that it is a good idea to play by the rules, desperate times call for desperate measures and you can’t always follow the rules.
The example that Mr. Langley talked about in class was a single mother who loses her job and can’t get any help to feed her baby. She has no money and no way to legally get some baby food, so is it okay for her to steal some? I think yes. She is not just going to let her baby starve. I think that this falls under the desperate times call for desperate measures category. It would be morally wrong for her to not steal the baby food. It would be morally wrong for her to let her baby starve just because she did not want to risk getting caught.
Another example is a man who has a very sick wife. He knows that his wife will die if she does not get the medicine that she needs and if she gets the medicine then she will for sure live. The only problem is that the medicine is very expensive. Should the man steal the medicine? I think that this example is like the first one and that he should steal it. He loves his wife and he wants her to live so of course he should steal it.
I think that these examples might be slightly different if it was not a life or death situation. If the woman could get help and was able to obtain the baby food in another way I think that it would be wrong for her to steal. I think that if she was stealing the baby food just because it was easier than working to get some money or if she just did not even attempt to get some kind of support from an organization then it would be different and I would not think that it would be moral for her to break the law. It is only moral to break the law if it is a life or death situation and you are out of options.