Why would anyone support the Somali pirates...?

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I just discovered how many facebook groups there are that support these guys. I'm just puzzled. do you guys think this is another leftist craze?

I admit that I kind of support the Niger Delta militants - maybe not support per se, but I see they have some good points. they have a cause.

but Somali pirates?? those guys are not oppressed by any cruel dictator, they can do whatever the heck they want, but they choose to kill and steal. why do Western kids find that so appealing?

I do not support their actions but it is important to understand what has caused all this. Very simply when somalia became a failed state in the early to mid 90's fishing fleets form around the world realised that there was no-one to protect Somali fishing grounds. They went in en-masse and wiped the area out. So now you have families that have no income and are employed by organised crime to attack the ships. If the money being spent on the naval presence was instead put into the rebuilding of these communities the problem would go away very quickly.

Well, I don't know that being oppressed by a cruel local warlord is any better than being oppressed by a cruel dictator, & I don't know that living in a failed state that doesn't seem to have any economy other than piracy amounts to being able to do whatever the heck you want, but yeah they suck.

I don't think it's a leftist craze though, I think a lot of kids are just muddled & have difficulty thinking clearly. Also we have been programmed by 200 years of pop-culture to think that pirates are awesome.

Can you give me some links to these groups that support the somali pirates?

Because everyone knows pirates are cool just like those silly Fidel Castro shirts they sell to white suburban kids!!

in a sense, they form the ONLY income to the state that is (isnt) somalia. somalia has no government. it is a functional anarchy, the worlds only one.

IF the pirates delegate SOME of this money into the community, then why not?
in other words, i need more info :]

nuke somalia.

what for? :S

you'd only get radioactive pirates. no problem solved, rather, new problem created.

radioactive pirates glow in the dark. this makes them easier for our snipers to see.

oo-rah!

Well, because the 'developed' countries are taking advantage of the fact that Somalia has no government.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/johann-hari/you-are-being-lied-to-abo_b_155147.html

yes yes. but remember. somalia has a population of 10 million.
dont nuke 10 million people over... 1000? pirates. even 2000 pirates. even 20 000 pirates.

you know...

killing EVERYONE is a bit... harsh.

But, on the other hand, how awesome would radioactive pirates be?

unless they glow, they would be pretty boring i think

just a bunch of half dead, half melted zombies in a boat :/

"groaaaan... kill us... please... "

*bubble popped*

Thanks for crushing my dreams dude

In my mind's eye they will always glow

Radioactive zombie pirates that glow in the dark...now that would be awsome enough to support! We just need to nuke them.

Voted "other"

I agree with you quite a bit. There seems to be this false dichotomy that acknowledging external social factors cause or at least greatly influenced the formation of Somali pirates (no protection of costal sovereignty, the displacement of fisher [who would take up piracy to get out of unemployment] and certain changes in administrative policies (cracking down on illegal shipping near Somalia and helping to sustainably develop the region) could improve the current predicament is the same as proclaiming the Pirates absolved of all guilt or is equivalent to declaring them noble. The false dichotomy seems to go either the pirates did this out of pure and uncaused internal evil or they are "heroes".

Heck, even some ultra-radicals who seldom think critically will claim this.

A while ago, my father had access to a fleet vehicle which provided American radio stations. During a lengthy trip, I listened to SIRIUS Left. There I was introduced to the rather militant "Make It Plain with Mark Thompson"

"Make It Plain with Mark Thompson" discussed the issue with such a false dichotomy and narrow mindedness. The seemed to pigeonhole everyone, even callers, as either being with the program and supporting the Somali pirates* idealistic stand against toxin dumping cargo ships and explotive fishers or you had to be some sort of unthinking and unsympathetic person in-line with corporate and mainstream thought. There were not other options, there was no nuance.

It got me thinking of the logical fallacies and thinking errors that show. I can stand, sympathize, and even adopt some of the principles of radical leftism. But what I cannot stand is an unthinking radicalism such as what that show displayed. If you want an example of what I would consider a thinking radical, just look at Chris Hedges, a man not affraid of criticizing some of the tendencies of the radical left even though he is a socialist.

It was the pinnacle of irony to note that after Thompson, the Stephanie Miller show came on. There she lauded the handling of the situation, stating "it could not have gone any better" and that "the only downside is that we're down three bullets" (I am paraphrasing here).

Cenk Uygur provides what I would consider the most nuanced leftwing view.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyGStVc8QY[/youtube]



NOTE

*Well, they refused to call them "pirates".