Modern Day Pirates

[qness]

...and people wondered why i was so proud to be a Pirate when I first joined the SCA.  Most people do not see/belive the other side.  It's amazing how history repeats itself, though....

You Are Being Lied to About Pirates

Pirates have never been quite who we think they are. In the "golden age of piracy" - from 1650 to 1730 - the idea of the pirate as

Comments

[prizmdonna]

I love animals, and yes, I think bombing a lab and killing a person is completely unacceptable. Lots of gangbangers may also feel thievery and murder is necessary for survival. Somehow I doubt you'd defend them if you were the victim of a home invasion and you or someone you loved was killed.

Stealing can make some sense in the name of necessity, but murdering a man, whose only crime was STUPIDITY for sailing into pirate-infested waters, is just plain wrong. Just rob them and be on your way. Which is still wrong, to me, but at least it wouldn't include senseless killing. It is pretty baffling to me how you can hold something like that in great esteem.

- donna

[qness]

I am either not making myself clear or you are missing my point =). I stated from the beginning that I do not believe that the killing of innocent victims is justified, either in the PETA example or Somali pirate one - but I can see where the end may justify the means for certain people in both cases. Just because I can see that doesn't mean I agree with it

[breakring]

Without wading into the fray, a two simple points of disagreement.

There is a very good argument that pirate societies, even during the Golden Age of Piracy, were not as egaltarian as some historians like to make out. Like the Sparticate Rebellion, piracy has been used by many as a propaganda point and evidence is often either ignored or inflated, depending on the position it supports.

As for the public support of the pirates, so what?

Public support of the pirates in Somalia signifies about as much as the American public adoration of gangsters in the 30's or gangbangers today (or the Somalia crowds cheering as American soliders were dragged dead through the streets).

I have no doubt there are economic issues which have given rise to this problem, but the evidence the author uses to support his posiiton is not as dispositive as he presents it to be.

[qness]

I don't disagree with your disagreements =). The problem with history is one historian presents 'facts' one way, and another finds 'facts' to support something completely different. *shrug* The truth is usually something in between. I go with the beautiful egaltarian view because it's my perrogative, but I know that certainly isn't the rule across the board

[qness]

"It's also interesting that the immoral waste dumping is getting no air play whatsoever; but of course murder is quite newsworthy. I have no doubt the dumping is happening, because they'll shift to dump in places wherever the local government is too weak to stop them."

Exactly...and true dat =(.