To us on HN, a hitchhiking robot is a cute and friendly distraction. To someone with no capital or prospects a hitchhiking robot is a cruel joke, and to destroy it is an act of resistance. This perspective is often missed by the media and general discussion.
Give me a break, I grew up in a poorer place with worse health care and that is an act of vandalism and people who haven't been taught decent values. Don't make it some class warfare thing or inevitably.
It's not resistance. That is the talk of people trying to justify crappy behavior and trying very hard not to blame the people who did it. They did a criminal act. Destroying the robot didn't save someone, it wasn't the final resort of someone trying to feed their family, it was just an act of destruction.
However, I can see a strong social justice argument for destroying the property of people who gain profit and/or power from destroying the lives of others. Their behaviors are profitable and there is no legal means to make their behaviors unprofitable, so doing illegal things that cost them money, such as destroying their property, is the only means to dis-incentivize their behavior.
I do think destruction of property can be an ethical action, but I don't think it's a smart thing to do for legal reasons.
I also think you're really underestimating the severity of the problem we have here. I'm not talking about a reduction in on-site staff towards a centralized service. I'm referencing a school known to be infected with mold[1] where a child died[2] from an asthma attack solely because there were no health workers or medical supplies available. These deaths[3] have been ongoing since the 2013 school year when the city decided to close 23 schools[4] and severely overcrowd the rest.
This of course on top of the police brutality that has taken national headlines lately but have been a permanent fixture of this city. I highly recommend the documentary Let The Fire Burn[5] for a clear example of this type of warfare.
[1]: http://citypaper.net/News/Philly-School-District-blocks-a-fe... [2]: http://citypaper.net/News/He-says-his-daughter-might-be-aliv... [3]: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/another-student-dies-school-no-nu... [4]: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/education/philadelphia-off... [5]: http://netflix.com/Movie/Let-the-Fire-Burn/70274329
You mean there isn't enough funding for the number of students there. There's plenty of funding for fewer students.
Destroying a robot isn't an act of resistance because the robot wasn't oppressing them nor was it responsible for their situation in life.
edit: as always feel free to engage in discussion instead of drive-by downvoting