Stealing is absolutely the issue if you download illegal copies. You can purchase a CD legally and loan it to anybody you choose. You can download a song from iTunes legally and load your iPod to anybody legally. But if you duplicate copyrighted material and give it to anybody, then you are a dirty thief.
The law doesn't agree. The definitions don't agree. And you don't speak for everybody under 30. Certainly you don't speak for creators of intellectual property under 30. You probably do speak for childlike selfishness and greed.