You understand the impulse to steal because a job doesn't pay well? I don't. I would understand the impulse to go back to school to develop a marketable skill, but not to use the force of the state to steal from people.
Edit:
Would you still find this behavior understandable if the TSA agent directly stole from passengers as their bags were scanned? What if the passenger in question ignored the collaborating-TSA-agent and moved to confront the thief; would you understand their behavior if they arrested the iPhone owner, you know, since they're underpaid.
Would you accept the same behavior from a local NYPD beat cop? They aren't paid well when they first join the force, can they steal from random people too?
Plucking an excuse for illegal behavior out of thin air and calling it "understanding" seems willfully naive, to the point of providing a fig leaf for the bad behavior.
Yes a literal interpretation of the parent comment does not point to "excusing the behavior", but I believe a more realistic interpretation was warranted here.
I don't accept or condone theft. That's an extreme position. But I do try to understand the way our flawed world works, instead of just wishing that people would see things the same way I do.
Did it really increase your understanding if you just learned about an issue (TSA-abetted phone thefts) and chose a "common sense" reason for that issue (low wages) seemingly without any actual effort?
I'm glad you don't condone theft, and even that you seek to understand the world, but I don't think that you've increased your understanding of the world in this case.
Edit: Would you still find this behavior understandable if the TSA agent directly stole from passengers as their bags were scanned? What if the passenger in question ignored the collaborating-TSA-agent and moved to confront the thief; would you understand their behavior if they arrested the iPhone owner, you know, since they're underpaid. Would you accept the same behavior from a local NYPD beat cop? They aren't paid well when they first join the force, can they steal from random people too?