This is a loaded question because there are many levels of theft so let me give you some background first.

I am in Korea (Busan) this week and while driving down the streets I noticed that people leave their carts, shoes, and even coke still in the bottles outside their shops and I asked the driver if these ever get stolen and he said sometimes yes, but it's not a bad problem otherwise they would not leave them outside.

Obviously I wouldn't do this in my hometown of Houston but it made me compare our culture with theirs and apparently, in this case, they are better.

My question is: will I find this kind of respect for personal property in Russia? Now I understand that crime changes depending on the area you are visiting but I can honestly say that in America (generally speaking) you don't have the same respect that you do in Korea and I am just looking for a general answer for the culture in Russia.

I also understand that another level of theft relates to that of Internet data such as .MP3 and pirated software. My question has nothing to do with this since I already know that answer; I just want to know about the respect for other peoples' personal (tangible) property.

Thanks!!