What kind of public opinion guidance is needed for the incident of a poor peasant woman stealing a chicken leg

These past two days, a piece of news has blown up social media -- "The Most Heartbreaking Children's Day Gift: She Stole a Chicken Leg for Her Sick Daughter": A peasant woman, Ms. Liu, was caught in a supermarket, and the stolen items the police found on her were -- coix seeds, red beans, a chicken leg, and a children's book. The total value was only a little over 70 yuan.

According to the police, she shoplifted in the supermarket because she wanted to give her sick child a Children's Day gift. This woman surnamed Liu is a villager from a certain village in Pingyuan County, Dezhou, Shandong, and is divorced. She and her twin daughters, both suffering from severe kidney disease, had been receiving the minimum living allowance and assistance for children in hardship back in their hometown since as early as 2014. Relative to the huge medical expenses, these subsidies are just a drop in the bucket.

Afterward, the police posted this matter on WeChat Moments, and many netizens replied: "Stealing a chicken leg was truly an act of helplessness; a mother's love is deeply moving." Some media also followed suit: expressing "sympathy" for the unfortunate plight of the "chicken-leg-stealing mom," and liking and being moved by her "great maternal love." An ordinary theft incident turned into a "relay race" of love where "when one side is in trouble, help comes from all sides." Now Ms. Liu has already received nearly 400,000 yuan in social donations.

The theft tragedy of the "chicken-leg-stealing" peasant woman flipping into a comedy of love is indeed worth deep reflection.

If theft caused by poverty is worth liking and sympathizing with, then can all improper and even illegal acts find reasons to be sympathized with and understood on this basis? Gambling because of poverty? Robbery because of poverty? Prostitution because of poverty? Drug trafficking because of poverty? ------

Of course not! In China under the rule of law, poverty cannot become a shield for illegal acts, still less a fig leaf for corrupting social morality and good customs.

If Ms. Liu shoplifted in the supermarket because she wanted to give her sick child a Children's Day gift, does that mean that because the starting point of the theft was good, it should be understood and respected? Because the starting point is good, one can do illegal things?

Of course not! In China under the rule of law, Ms. Liu's plight is worthy of sympathy, but her theft absolutely must not be liked under the halo of "maternal love." Still less should it be labeled as positive energy.

Sympathizing with the weak and giving love is the shared moral conscience of our society, but the flooding of love must not drown the bottom line of right and wrong. If we only look at whether the "starting point" is good or bad and ignore law, morality, and order, would that not be "confused"?

Wrong guidance will only further corrupt morality and the rule of law.

At present, China's rural areas still have tens of millions of poor people. Whether they can escape poverty as quickly as possible is a matter of paramount importance to the success or failure of a moderately prosperous society. Assistance to the poor requires help from all sectors of society, strong guarantees from poverty alleviation mechanisms, and even more "zero-distance" support, care, and aid. Only by promptly improving and promptly implementing the assistance system for the poor and providing poor families with more help and hope can the problem of the poor peasant woman "stealing a chicken leg" be fundamentally solved.

The latest reports show: after township officials in Ms. Liu's hometown got the news, they set out overnight from Pingyuan County, Dezhou, Shandong to visit her, and plan to apply for civil affairs assistance for the two children. If they are willing to return to their hometown, the township primary school can arrange for the two children to attend free of charge.

Ms. Liu's daughter Dashuang (nickname) has already been admitted to the pediatrics department of Nanjing General Hospital. The hospital has set up an expert medical team to conduct a comprehensive examination and assessment of the child and has formulated a detailed treatment plan.

Commentary author: Zhang Lei, China National Radio Rural Service

Editors: Liu Sisi,Li Yunan,Wang Qunjun

Original work of China National Radio Rural Service. Forwarding and reprinting are welcome, but please be sure to indicate the source:WeChat public account "China National Radio Rural Service", and keep the reprinted content presented separately and in full.