Far-left commentator Hasan Piker explained to The New York Times on Wednesday how he was “pro-stealing” and “pro-piracy” when it came to corporations.
“I’m pro-stealing from big corporations, because they steal quite a bit more from their own workers,” Piker said on “The Opinions” podcast. “However, one thing that might even help your ethical dilemma is the fact that the automated process that they design, these companies know will increase shrink, right?”
He continued, “So it’s actually factored in. The lemons that you stole are factored into the bottom line of these mega-corporations regardless. And they still end up having increased profit margins, because they no longer have to pay the cashiers that they used to hire, as opposed to this automated system, knowing full well that people are still going to be able to steal a lot more efficiently, as a matter of fact, through the automated process.”
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Piker was part of a discussion with The Opinions culture editor Nadja Spiegelman and The New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino on the subject Spiegelman dubbed “microlooting,” or people robbing stores out of protest of major corporations.
Though Piker stopped short of endorsing all forms of theft, he was largely dismissive of concerns over stealing if a person was in need or if the act was simple.
“Yeah, I’m pro-piracy all the way, like, across the board. Would you pirate a car? Yes. You know, if you could,” Piker said.
He explained, “It was just a classic thing back in the day. The government-funded antipiracy initiatives would be like: Would you steal a car? I’m like, yeah, sure. If I could get away with it, if it was as easy as pirating intellectual property, I would do it.”
He added that he would personally not take part in “microlooting” and would not support stealing from places that would be taxpayer-funded, like libraries or a government-run grocery store. He also agreed that the idea of private schools should be “illegal.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Piker and The New York Times for comment.
Piker’s comments come on the heels of several controversial statements he’s made over the years against American capitalism and in favor of communism as he becomes more influential within the Democratic Party.
Last month, he traveled with several left-wing activists to Cuba in support of the communist regime while ignoring or downplaying rolling blackouts in the nation.
Last year, Piker referred to communism as the “honorable end goal” of socialism.
“Communism is supposed to be the end stage,” Piker said. “It’s like the final goal. It’s like the final evolution, a stateless, moneyless, classless society. A borderless society. We’ve never really had communism. I know people will just jokingly sometimes say, ‘Real communism has never been tried.’ But that literally has never existed.”
