While this is a start this also means she still believes it is alright to shoot someone for stealing a vacuum or TeeVee. I have tried in vain to understand why stealing a plastic box filled with glass and wires fills people with such irrational hatred. Why is it acceptable to take a human life to prevent a TeeVee, destined for the landfill, from being taken and why do so many people think this way? Where does this come from? We have been conditioned to believe that private property is more important than human life. This permeates everything. Until that changes, people will think it's OK, even desirable, to shoot someone stealing a TV and thus to maintain order.
Joanna
I think you are both missing the point. It is not about property i.e. "stuff" at all. It is about the invasion of the private space that stealing entails. That frightens people a lot.
People are not attached to stuff per se, and generally have no problems getting rid of it, because that gives them opportunity to get new stuff. They are more thrilled with getting new stuff, because this fills the void in their lives left by commercialism, commodification, dissolution of the community, etc.
But at the same time people tend to be alienated alienation produces fear. To combat that fear they draw thick boundaries around themselves ("The Wall" thing) and build their private security zones in their homes and their cars. The invasion of that security zone by a thief is the enemy penetrating the last line of defense to them - it is scary and provokes defensive reactions. Please note that in societies with greater social cohesion and interaction, the fear of crime is not as big as in the US even though these folks are usually poorer and cannot easlity replace the stolen stuff. This shows that it is not about stuff but about transgression and fear.
Wojtek