Just to clarify, I have nothing particular against poor people, having been one myself and all. My problem is with the mentality which says that as long as one is sufficiently “downtrodden” or “oppressed”, one can do damned near anything one wants with impunity; law, ethics, and respect for other people’s rights be damned…
It sort of stretches that “stealing a loaf of bread to feed his starving family” cliché a bit thin, doesn’t it? Simply being poor (or homosexual, or African American, or Muslim, or an animal rights activist, or whatever) does not give one carte blanche to behave like an asshole. Or like a criminal…