On Gremlin Dishonesty

Gremlins are not inherently dishonest. They are, however, unusually comfortable with opportunism, and the distinction is regularly ignored by people who discover that a Gremlin has appropriated some unattended object and modified it, improved it, traded it, or returned it in a condition technically superior to the one in which it was found.

Gremlin concepts of ownership are heavily shaped by early independence and a developmental environment in which possession is established more often by use than by inheritance. This does not mean they fail to understand private property. Urban Gremlins understand contracts perfectly well when contracts are explained and enforced. What they sometimes fail to share is the emotional reverence other races attach to unused possessions.

A Gremlin may look at a broken tool abandoned for six months and conclude that nobody wants it. The Human owner may look at the same tool and conclude that it remains unquestionably his because he purchased it twelve years ago. Both positions are internally consistent, and only one is likely to involve the police.

The better explanation for Gremlin theft statistics is therefore cultural mismatch combined with opportunity, not congenital criminality. That said, some Gremlins are thieves, which should not be controversial. Some Humans are accountants, and we do not generally classify the entire species accordingly.