If the Rich Steal, We Should Too

I spoke to an Occupy Wall Street protester in the city yesterday, who told me the following:

"If we don't steal from the rich, they will use government to steal from us just because they can. Who wouldn't steal a million dollars if he could get away with it?"

When I thought about his comment, it made sense. In America, the bailout of the banking sector shows how the rich steal from the poor due to their influence on government. The problem with capitalism is that once it is implemented, capitalists become socialists and use government to steal from taxpayers. Hence capitalism simply doesn't work in practice as it assumes that the capitalist class have the altruism and self-control to not loot the public purse when it would be so easy for them to do so (because they are by definition rich and powerful).