Caroline Pellegrin, Chapter Three, Question One

I could go ahead and make the blanket statement that everything discussed in this chapter affects me both directly and indirectly, but I won't because that's sort of a cop- out. More specifically, I have chosen to examine the subject of "free riders" and its implications, as presented by Wheelan in the later half of the chapter. I have come to realize that I am not only affected by the acts of "free riders," but that I am, in fact, a free rider as well. On a basic level, I depend enormously on the research and findings of other people, not a day goes by where I don't research something for school or use an equation created by someone else to solve a problem. On perhaps a more direct and questionable level, I admittedly am a free rider of the Chipotle enterprise. I use the indifference of the workers and opaque water cups to get "free" carbonated soft beverages, a form of "free riding" or more arguably stealing. My question is, what separates not paying "the Current" to listen to the radio from actually physically stealing a t-shirt at a store? What is the primary factor that differentiates the two acts? Do we, as basic free riders, have an obligation to feel remorse, or is the corporation at fault for not making us pay for the service. I should feel remorse from my fairly self-deprecating Chipotle beverage acts, but should I feel remorse for listening to Beyoncé's recent album on Youtube instead of purchasing it? Free riding seems to be a hazy form of economic transportation.