Existential Corner or Something to Think About

Okay, I'm waiting for the bus on Colorado Boulevard. it is kind of a rough bus stop. It is on the corner of Colfax and Colorado in Denver, and you do get a broad range of people waiting for the bus. I'm waiting for the bus one sunday morning, and on this particular morning I feel like i'm the white gloved, purse lipped church lady brittely holding my belongings close to my body hoping not to be robbed. I rarely feel this way but the conversation among a lot of the future bus passengers was about when they got out of prison, and what they had served time for!
One such person had an interesting point of view on robbery which begged the question, for me, about ethics and moral codes.

Let me report the story of the young man at the bus stop, paraphrased of course: I went to prison for robbery man. It seriously wasn't my fault. This guy was on colfax, and talking to me and my friends when he took out his wallet and was fanning his money out in front of all of us. I robbed him, man. He needed to be taught a lesson. If I didn't rob him for being so stupid someone else would, and I say, why not me? He got off easy, man. If someone else would have robbed him he could have gotten really messed up. (of course there are a lot of expletives that I'm not at liberty to write but they do include a word that begins with f.)

I started thinking; was this guy being an opportunist, a teacher, a thug, or was he living by a code that I just didn't understand, and in his world it was perfectly acceptable? It appeared that the other people he was talking to seemed to think that this guy was doing a favor in robbing the guy with money, that he needed to be taught a lesson. this person at the bus stop was really a good guy. So then, where does our moral code come from? Is it religion, is it innate, is it our environment, is it the law or government? I believe that this person at the bus stop believed that he had a right to rob this stupid person, and on some level I kind of agree with him. If you don't take certain precautions I don't think you should be robbed or raped or even murdered, but I do think you need to be more aware of where you are, and what you are doing. We all make stupid mistakes with our personal safety, and we need to remember that there are people out there that live by a completely different moral code than what is "common", and they feel that it is their right to take advantage of a situation. They see absolutely nothing wrong with taking advantage of someone's stupidity. what do you think?