You can try to justify it all you want, you're still a thief. I'm sure many thieves construct narratives in their head to justify why they steal. This is just your version of that. It's just ok to steal what you want to steal and it's bad when other people steal what they want to steal.

And like I said, I get it. It happens. But just state that and leave it at that. Your "moral compass" is just a rationalization engine to help you justify in your head why it's ok.